The smallest theater in Groningen has been squatted. Squatter Daan (24) wants to prevent it from being lost as a cultural breeding ground. The police have been called.
Daan expects that he will soon have to appear in court and says he has a chance of staying in the monumental building. “The anti-vacancy organization Carex would come in, but that is not legally an official residence. Moreover, there will still be a lot of construction going on around this building in the coming years. Due to the inconvenience, there are few interested parties. Judges prefer not to evict for vacancy. My right to live then outweighs my right to property.”
Who owns the regulator house from 1892?
Daan doesn’t know exactly. He heard from the newspaper that jazz venue Le Petit Théatre – founded by jazz singer Sharon Doelwijt – had to leave in mid-September and that Carex would come in then. Even then he thought about cracking it. “The building belonged to the Groningen Monument Fund, but it was just transferred to the municipality of Groningen for 1 euro. That was an extra reason for me to crack this.”
Reviving
He lives in the attached kiosk where he has plenty of room to sleep. He wants to breathe new life into the recently completed theater, which was almost empty. “I would like to organize socio-cultural events there. For example, the Kraaienkeuken will cook there, I bought a projector to hold film screenings there and it is extremely suitable for musical performances.”
He knew that Sharon Doelwijt had to hand in the key to the building last week. A day later he entered, changed the lock and stayed there for 24 hours. “Then they can’t just throw you out.” Two days later, a few people from Carex arrived who were going to use the building. “I told them that they couldn’t just go in, because that would be trespassing,” says Daan.
The Carex employees told him they were going to call the police. Daan had already done that himself, just as he had announced to the municipality and the Groningen Monument Fund (GMF) that he was the new resident.
Cultural breeding ground
Daan is a computer programmer and studies philosophy at the RUG. He tries to preserve the regulator’s house as a cultural breeding ground for artists, students, squatters and punks. “Groningen has few free spaces left. Le Petit Theater was very unique: it was a small stage where novice musicians could play. The loss of such places is disastrous for the culture and music world.”
He calls himself an anarchist. “This city belongs to all of us. Why is a municipality allowed to give such a monumental building as a gift to Carex while there was something beautiful in it?”
GMF is being dissolved
The Groningen Monument Fund (GMF) owned the regulator’s house and evicted tenant Le Petit Theater because it was in rent arrears. Anti-vacancy organization Carex was supposed to move into the monumental building, but that is now cancelled, because the building has been squatted.
The GMF will cease to exist at the end of this year and will sell its properties to its shareholders. The municipality of Groningen will take over all city monuments from the GMF – such as the Prinsenhof, the water tower on the Noorderbinnensingel and the Pomphuis. The municipality paid 1 euro for the tea dome in the Sterrebos and the regulator’s house.