Shit is on the way in Made. The iconic ‘shit tower’ is in danger of being demolished. Councilor Ricus Tiekstra of Groen Drimmelen (VP/D66) wants to put a stop to this. “This is the landmark of Made.”
“It’s not an architectural wonder,” Tiekstra laughs when he talks about the ‘shit tower’ on the Koekoekweg in Made. It has been out of use for years. Due to renovation work in the area, the Brabantse Delta water board wants to demolish the building. Tiekstra hopes that it can be preserved, because he notices that many older residents attach emotional value to it. “It’s a shame if it disappears.”
Shit from the toilet bowls
For years the ‘shit tower’ served as a sewage pumping station. Inside the building were pumps that moved the wastewater under great pressure through a pipe to a sewage treatment plant.
“The turret provided counter pressure to remove the shit from the toilet bowls,” Tiekstra explains. Due to new techniques, the building eventually became redundant.
Recognition point
The ‘shit tower’ could be seen and smelled from afar. “From the polder perspective, this is the landmark of Made, just like the cooling plant is for Geertruidenberg,” says Tiekstra.
But that landmark is in danger of disappearing. “It’s a shame, because in Made all the necessary iconic works have disappeared.” For example, the former Meer Uitgebreid Lager Onderwijs (MULO) school on Marktstraat had to make way for modern new construction. A monastery complex was demolished in the early 1990s to turn it into a socio-cultural center.
Tiekstra hopes that the ‘shit tower’ will be spared. A similar tower went up in Hoeven last year against the plain. Some residents of Made want their ‘shit tower’ to be added to the municipal monument list. “A beautiful tower, where you can still smell the history,” writes one of them in an online review. Another calls it ‘a true work of art with authentic elements’.
‘Attached to this symbol‘
“There is certainly popular understanding about the tower on the Koekoekweg,” says the municipality of Drimmelen, which has never given it monumental status. They have not yet received a demolition notification from the water board.
It has not yet been decided whether the ‘shit tower’ will be retained or demolished. A spokesperson for the Brabantse Delta water board told Omroep Brabant this. They are still in an exploratory phase.
The future of the ‘shit tower’ will not be decided in a poo and a fart, the spokesperson assures. “The wishes of the residents are being seriously considered. If this symbol is so attached to it, we can consider preserving it.”
