Rotterdam in development

20 R O T T E R D A M I N D E V E L O P M E N T | 2 0 1 8 itting around the table are: Councillor Adriaan Visser (D66, whose portfolio includes Finance, Organisation, Port, Inner City and Sport); Jan van Merwijk, Director of Feijenoord Stadium; Project Director of Feyenoord City Frank Keizer; and Hans van Rossum, associated with the company Realconomy and Area Development Adviser on the project. Since the Rotterdam city council gave the green light to the further implementation of the plans in the spring, everything is being done to make it possible to start all the construction activities soon. In fact: “Those activities have already begun,” says Adriaan Visser. “New sports facilities are being built south of the Olympiaweg for what we call the new Sport Campus, including a lovely club house. Many people may have missed that, but it is actually part of what is about to happen in the rest of the area. The municipality is investing a total of €60 million in the Sport Campus and the neighbouring Park de Twee Heuvels (Two Hills Park).” UNIQUE COLLABORATION Stadium Director Jan van Merwijk recalls how the plans got off the ground: “It began as a private initiative with the intention of building a new stadium.” The current Kuip, however monumental it may be, dates from 1937, and although it was thoroughly renovated in the 1990s it no longer meets the common standards THE VAN ZANDVLIETZAAL, ON THE FIRST FLOOR OF THE FEIJENOORD STADIUM, A ROOM WHERE THE HISTORY OF THE ROTTERDAM SOUTH FOOTBALL CLUB IS TANGIBLE, IS THE SETTING FOR A DISCUSSION OF THE EXCITING FUTURE OF DE KUIP AND ITS SURROUNDING AREA. THE TOPIC OF CONVERSATION IS FEYENOORD CITY, ONE OF THE LARGEST AND MOST AMBITIOUS AREA DEVELOPMENTS IN THE HISTORY OF ROTTERDAM. AS WELL AS THE CONSTRUCTION OF A NEW STADIUM ALONG THE SOUTH BANK OF THE NIEUWE MAAS, THE MAIN HIGHLIGHT OF THE PLANS IS A UNIQUE METAMORPHOSIS OF A 30-HECTARE AREA. THAT TRANSFORMATION IS TAKING SHAPE THANKS TO A UNIQUE COMBINATION OF FACILITIES FOR LIVING, WORKING, SPORT AND RECREATION. Councillor Adriaan Visser