Theater De Speeldoos in Vught may have to sell its property to the municipality, but according to the management that does not happen voluntarily. “We feel compelled for this, because the municipality has stopped the subsidy. Without that money we go bankrupt,” says theater director Jelmer Lesterhuis on Tuesday during a lawsuit in an attempt to stop forced sale.
Theater De Speeldoos has been a place for music, dance and theater in Vught since 1977. But according to the municipality, the building is outdated. She wants to buy the theater, demolish them and build a new socio-cultural center there, combined with homes. To make that possible, the municipality set a pre -emptive right. This means that the municipality is the first to have the right to buy the building when it is offered for sale.
But the board of the Speeldoos, which owns the building, does not agree. According to the director, the pre -emptive right is unjustified and is used to put pressure on the theater. The Speeldoos therefore went to court: “The conversations were stiff and gradually it turned out that we actually had nothing to say about our own building,” says director Jelmer Lesterhuis.
“We want to be in control of culture.”
De Speeldoos would rather not sell the theater to the municipality and therefore proposed an alternative: Venvulas plan. In this plan, the current site would be exchanged with that of a nearby project developer. He would then contribute to the construction of a new cultural center at its location, next to the current municipal office.
An important advantage of this proposal is that the theater can continue to run at the current location during the new building, so that expensive temporary housing is not necessary. “We came up with a realistic alternative,” says Lesterhuis. “But that never looked at that seriously.”
According to the municipality, that plan is not financially feasible and the pre -emptive right is therefore important. “As a municipality, we want to be in control of culture.”
In this way the municipality can stimulate cooperation between different cultural institutions, associations and other parties.
“We had to do something, otherwise we go bankrupt.”
Although the parties do not agree, the theater seems to be sold to the municipality of Vught. The parties have previously concluded a provisional agreement on the sale. “Because of the situation, the municipality has stopped giving a subsidy. We had to do something, otherwise we go bankrupt. But it therefore feels like a coercive agreement for us,” the director says on Tuesday morning in the Bossche court.
Although the Speeldoos has agreed to the provisional agreement, it is still opposed to signing the final purchase agreement. Lesterhuis: “First, important elements must be worked out such as a subsidy for the exploitation, transfer of the inventory and the use of the current staff.”
The purchase agreement must be around before 1 September. On Thursday, the provisional agreement will first be discussed in the city council.
The court does not make a decision for the time being. The parties will receive until 1 September to get out of it together. If that does not work, a court decision will still follow.
