Zandvoort is getting ready for a return to the glory days

The Zandvoort Marketing spokesperson has full confidence in it. “The will to do things is back in the village.”

in hand

The village has recently been taken care of a lot. Such is the South Boulevard recently renovated and it will soon be the turn of the Noord Boulevard. For the Entrance area there are advanced plan for the iconic Palace Hotel to be expanded and to replace the Passage buildings with social housing. Badhuisplein and Watertorenplein will also be renovated, provided the ambitious plans are approved by the council in December.

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For Zandvoort standards, these are major changes. In 2015, the province described the core value van Zandvoort as ‘the sea sways up and down but goes nowhere’, but in 2022 the city council seems more decisive than ever.

According to Jerry Kramer, leader of Jong Zandvoort, the fact that it does not seem to be just a matter of plans this time is due to a change in the city council. “Eventually everyone wants to further develop the village, but there is now more support to actually do it. We have a young municipal council and the old gret is no longer there. All parties want to look ahead instead of arguing about the choices that used to be made. are made.”

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The latter in particular is important to make progress in Zandvoort. According to the province, ‘Dick and still clean’ was another core value of Zandvoort, according to the province. Zandvoorts can only get started after the initiatives are first ‘drilled into the ground by others’.

According to Kramer, this is now being actively monitored: “All parties are ready to blame each other for the past and if they do, we will hold each other accountable.”

chips village

The lack of a stable management led to Zandvoort turning into a ‘chip village’ in recent years. Where there used to be restaurants and cafes, there are now mainly ‘dump shops’, says an employee of the Casino in Kerkstraat. The Passage buildings at the station are empty, the former Dolfirama is waiting for a new use and most of the shops on the boulevard have disappeared.

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Also the Badhuisplein, about which the cabaret artist Louis Davids wrote in 1915 ‘Oh, it’s such a bliss, when you slide down the dunes, in Zandvoort by the sea’, it is no longer what it used to be. In recent years, it has not been possible to build a good connection between the village center and the coast.

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The fact that renovation plans have often been rejected has caused skepticism among many Zandvoorts. The boy from the fish stall on North Boulevard: “There have been plans for years, but nothing is happening. It’s shabby on this side. I’d tear that whole flat down,” pointing to the Palace Hotel. Atie, born and raised in Zandvoort, in 18 degrees on a lounger on the beach: “I will never leave here, but Zandvoort is not doing well.”

Chic seaside resort

The fact that Zandvoort has lost its appearance and atmosphere in recent years hurts Zandvoort even more, because they know that Zandvoort was once one of the most beautiful coastal towns in the Netherlands. Around 1900 the village was a chic seaside resort that was mainly visited by the wealthy upper class and German nobility. The hotels and other buildings, such as Hotel d’Orange, had a grand architectural style with bay windows, towers and columns.

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Arie Koper describes the Zandvoort of 1900 as ‘mundane’. He is a board member of the Oud-Zandvoort society and knows everything about the history of the village. Above his sofa hangs a large picture of nineteenth-century Zandvoort. Empress Sissi even stayed in that Zandvoort.

Nazis

When the Nazis built a defense line in Zandvoort in 1940, the splendor of the coastal town was over. The entire village had to be flattened and the inhabitants were ordered to leave the village. There are at least 550 Jewish people from Zandvoort deported and murdered†

Arie Koper’s parents moved to Heemstede. When they returned, it turned out that most of the houses had been looted or that everything had been burned up.

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After the war, Zandvoort was rebuilt with ‘steel and stones’ due to the lack of resources. The grand architecture that characterized Zandvoort before the war did not return. Architect Kees Draisma of Springtij Architecten therefore speaks of a collective trauma. “When you see what it was like before the war, tears well up in your eyes. It’s time to restore that identity.”

recovery

Draisma tries with Sprintij Architecten to reintroduce the Zandvoort style with their projects. The agency is, among other things, responsible for the Water tower, a number of hotels and a few villas on the boulevard. “That bay window architecture; the white houses with bay windows and conservatories belong to Zandvoort.”

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Jerry Kramer can’t wait for Zandvoort to regain that appearance: “We want that grandeur in the architectural style back.”

formula 1

Everyone agrees on one thing and that is that the return of Formula 1 is good for Zandvoort’s recovery. According to architect Draisma, Zandvoort is becoming more and more attractive. “We cannot deny that ‘Verstappen’ has a major effect on the attractiveness of Zandvoort.”

Marja Enthoven, born and raised in Zandvoort, says that everyone in the village has warm feelings about the circuit. “I used to be able to see the track from home. We always rented out rooms to visitors on race weekends.” According to Atie Spaan, the return of Formula 1 is ‘justified’. The circuit belongs to Zandvoort. “The people who whine are not from here. The track was there before you, so what are you doing here?”

With the return of Formula 1, a new governance culture and advanced plans to restore the ‘grandeur of Zandvoort’, a new era seems to be dawning for the coastal town. The Zandvoort Marketing spokesperson sees a return to the glory days happening: “Every beach is different, but Zandvoort has the total picture.”