The council will be temporarily homeless for two years
From today, Groningen’s town hall is closing for a renovation. The city council will return after two years, but during that time the council chamber will be moved from the bottom to the top floor of the town hall.
The Groningen city council met for almost 23 years in ground floor council chamber. The last meeting in the council chamber was last night was, with Mayor Koen Schuiling as chairman of the council. Schuiling was also present during the first council meeting in the new council chamber on 29 May 1997, but at that point he was a councilor.
The renovation of the town hall will take an estimated 2 years. Until that time, meetings with all 45 council members will take place in the Provinciehuis. The first council meeting is Wednesday 25 March.
The committee meetings will take place from March at the Radesingel 6, the old opera house. It will also be the new base for the so-called ‘residents’ at the town hall: the mayor and aldermen, civil servants, council fractions; and support staff.
Image via Wikimedia user Marcelmulder68. License here.
