The Henri van Abbe foundation is sounding the alarm about the state of the former cigar factory on Vestdijk in Eindhoven. The roof of the monumental building is said to have collapsed and the municipality is said to be doing nothing to restore it. In an urgent letter, the ‘heritage watchdog’ calls on the city council to take action.
The former cigar factory, once operated by Schröder and later by Blomhoff, has been a municipal monument since the beginning of last month. According to the Van Abbe Stichting (foundation), this means that the municipality is obliged to maintain the building. Something that reportedly comes to little in practice.
“The Henri van Abbe Stichting has repeatedly urged a speedy and professional restoration of this monumental complex. However, we have never heard that the municipality has taken any action to maintain or renovate their monumental property”, according to the board.
For sale
A responsibility that the municipality would like to get rid of, according to the foundation. The building is said to be for sale or will be sold in the future. The purchase agreement would include that the future buyer would have to maintain the former cigar factory from now on. “In our opinion, this is the world turned upside down. The Municipality of Eindhoven should take responsibility here and not the next owner!”
According to the Henri van Abbe Stichting, the municipality is often negligent when it comes to renovating municipal monuments. The board of the ‘heritage watchdog’ therefore wants the municipality to meet its obligations as soon as possible. “And to ensure that the roof is restored in an expert manner, so that further decay cannot occur”. The municipality has announced that it will only be able to respond after the summer recess.
Source: Studio040
Translated by: Bob
