It would be so beautiful, the opening of the new TT Museum in Assen during the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the TT. In June 2025 the time has come. However, there is little chance that that date will be met. Foundation chairman Sandra Hoekman sighs that the arrival of the museum ‘is a very long-term affair’.
Hoekman estimates that the original investment of 800,000 euros, a cost estimate from two years ago, has now more than doubled. “With the sharply increased prices, we are taking into account 1.5 to 2 million euros.”
Since last summer, design and development agency Mudware from Tilburg has been focusing on developing a professional museum plan, a requirement from the municipality of Assen before making the cut for a motorcycle museum. The first design plan of the TT Museum Assen Foundation, on the basis of which they asked for money, was not ambitious enough at city hall. Assen wants a ‘professional experience museum’. The municipality will pay the costs of the in-depth design plan, 20,000 euros.
“A few drafts are now ready,” says Hoekman. “And the approach seems nice. Only it is only a first concept. We first have to show that to the parties involved, including the municipality, partners, entrepreneurs and the TT Circuit,” says Hoekman. That will happen in the coming weeks. Hoekman estimates that the final plan will not be ready until February.
She is satisfied with the first sketches that the designers have come up with for the former cinema and disco on Brinkstraat. “They want to build something in layers, because the space on the ground floor is very high. They want to use the basement for a temporary exhibition.” There is also a void in the former dancing. “They want to involve that void in the ground floor, so that you can look over the floor.”
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