After years of construction, the skyline-defining Forum Groningen will open its doors to the public on the 29th of November.
Translation by Traci White
The distinctly modern building on the east side of the Grote Markt will officially be known at the Forum Groninger once it opens on the 29th of November.
The Forum building will be the new home for the Groninger Forum cinema, the VVV tourist shop (currently in a temporary building on the Grote Markt), the public library, Storyworld (the successor to the Comic Strip Museum), the Groninger Forum art house cinema, three restaurants and various exhibit spaces. The building will feature glass balustrades on the roof for panoramic views of the city, and a car park in the basement with room for 385 cars and 1,250 bikes.
Dagblad van het Noorden reports that the budget for wider renovation project for the Grote Markt, which includes the construction of a WestCord hotel, a new square (Nieuwe Markt) and a mixed use building on the corner of the Poelestraat, is 273 million euros.
According to the Groninger Internet Courant, over the coming months, the final touches will be put on the building and the new inhabitants will move in and get set up. A festive opening ceremony will be held on the 29th of November, and the programme for the day will be announced at a later date.
The project has faced some setbacks along the way: several months of construction progress was demolished and rebuilt following new earthquake-proofing rules for building projects in the municipality
