Slopen

Slopen is the Dutch word for pulling down houses, a very familiar word, too familiar. It happened to the station in Utrecht, and once regrets it nowadays. It happened a lot in the 70's and 80's, but it is also happening to Bernards old house. And, it has happened to a beautiful old house here in Amsterdam, an old farm, referred to as 'Villa ten Spijttel' , specifically named as a part of an area of historic importance. I thought it was being renovated, then I bike by on Tuesday evening, and all that is left is the front of the house, the rest is gone. It is part of an old street with old "arbeiderswoningen" (houses for working people, small but very pretty), all these arbeiderswoningen are going to be pulled down as well to make place for 3 "2-onder-eenkap-woningen". I called the people who give permission for these kinds of things and he said "well if it is not a monument then this can happen". I said "how can this happen, it is a special part of town". He said "Well, if it is replaced by housing it is not a problem to pull down houses". What an attitude, a Dutch attitude (sorry Dutch people, but you do not appreciate the cultural value of old houses, otherwise this would not be possible). So, he said the the house that has already been pulled down was a monument. To not bore you, I am now going to the town archives at 9am on my free day to see how they could do this, and to find out how they can pull down these pretty little houses. It really hurts, I find this so terrible.