Work on Kapel & Convict for the temporary housing of refugees

Work has started on the maintenance of the exterior walls in order to make Kapel & Convict viable. The maintenance work is needed anyway. The work on the walls consists of delivering windows, before the joints and cracks in the walls are repaired. This will be followed by the painting work.

Refugees

In April 2023, we reported on the arrival of refugees from Ukraine at Kapel & Convict for a period of two years. The building renovation works fell behind schedule. This shortened the period during which the refugees were housed and also led to an increase in costs. We wanted to extend the temporary housing of the refugees from two years to five. But because Kapel & Convict form part of Amsterdam’s hoofdgroenstructuur (‘main green structure’), a decision on this was needed by the city council. The city council has now given its consent, which means the refugees can now be housed for five years. For the first three years, the site is specifically for Ukrainian refugees; after that, it will be used for the temporary housing of refugees from elsewhere too.

Renovation planning permission

An application has also been made for planning permission to convert the Convict building to make it suitable for housing refugees. If planning permission is granted, this will be published on amsterdam.nl/bekendmakingen, followed by a period during which objections may be lodged.

How will the work affect you?

Unfortunately, the construction work road for Park Meadows is not available for the work relating to Kapel & Convict. Contaminated soil has been found here, which first needs to be disposed of. For this reason, all construction traffic will pass from Beethovenstraat via the Prinses Irenestraat cycle path to Kapel & Convict. We realise this is not an ideal route for construction traffic. Large-scale transport, such as the delivery of window frames and glass, will therefore only be permitted – at the request of residents – between 10.00 and 11.00 in the morning, and will be accompanied by traffic supervisors. In addition, around eight vans will be operating back and forth every day to deliver and remove various materials. As soon as the construction work road via Park Meadows is again available, the construction traffic will use this route. As well as the construction traffic, disturbance may also be caused by the noise of machinery. The work will be carried out from Monday to Friday, between 07.00 and 19.00 at the latest.

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