In the late 1970s the church was in danger of disappearing for a completely different reason. The church was so dilapidated that the stones were falling down. Demolition threatened and what followed was a rescue operation, which included architect André van Stigt.
“We literally squatted the church first,” says Van Stigt. “We then ensured that the church could not be demolished, based on the phenomenon that it had become a monument.”
Church sold for 1 guilder
The diocese of Haarlem, owner of the Vondelkerk, had already sold it to investors (for one guilder). “But they didn’t know much about it. Because they had plans for which they did not have a permit,” says Dorien van Waerden of the Vondelkerk Foundation. That foundation bought the church in 1984. “When we bought it, we did get a permit, because we wanted to turn it into a cultural center for concerts and events.”