Nieuwegein Seeks New Location for the Burned-Down Bouwgein

Reporter Ulrike Nagel reporting live from the scene of the Bouwgein fire in Nieuwegein on the morning of January 25, 2010.

Nieuwegein is looking for new locations for the activities of the Bouwgein Foundation. The activity center on Hoveniersweide burned down completely last night, six months after Bouwgein’s construction playground reopened. On Monday morning, January 25, 2010, at around 4:00 a.m., the Bouwgein facility on Hoveniersweide in Nieuwegein burned to the ground. The six rooms and a kitchen in the building were beyond salvage. Arson is suspected.

Mayor De Vos immediately visited the Bouwgein volunteers this morning to offer them words of encouragement.

Among other things, Bouwgein housed a daycare center and after-school care program, and these services must be relocated to another location as soon as possible. The police suspect arson.

Reporter Ulrike Nagel reporting live from the Bouwgein fire in Nieuwegein on the morning of January 25, 2010

FIRE AT BOUWGEIN

The report of raging flames on Hoveniersweide came in around 4:00 a.m. this morning. Just before 5:30 a.m., the fire department had the fire under control. The Bouwgein building, with six rooms and a kitchen covering a total area of 500 square meters, could not be saved. The fire department allowed it to burn out in a controlled manner.

RTV Utrecht reportage Bouwgein — RTV Utrecht report on Bouwgein

Bouwgein’s construction playground reopened last summer following a major renovation. In October, the playground won a 10,000-euro prize in a Rabobank competition for regional projects. A daycare center had also been operating in the building for the past three weeks. The after-school care program in the city center must now also find new accommodations.

The Bouwgein Foundation does not receive subsidies from the municipality and relies largely on volunteers and sponsors. This morning at the scene of the fire, reporter Ulrike Nagel spoke with, among others, foundation chairman Martin Koot, who, along with other volunteers who had rushed to the scene, had to watch helplessly as five years of work went up in flames.