The Borne City Council on Tuesday, July 11, approved the new plan for the sports center and children’s center at Borne-West. The council also approved the temporary facilities for the sports. The current location at ‘t Wooldrik will house the new sports center and the child center will be located at the Anemoon. The child center will be the new home for the Jan Ligthartschool, elementary school ‘t Oldhof, child care center ‘Duimelot’ and the ‘Samen naar school’-class of the foundation ‘Kids Vooruit’ and Brigantijn.
Alderman Vermorken: “I am very pleased with the agreement from the council. With approval of this plan we can now take steps to build future-proof sports and educational facilities in Borne-West. We will keep a tight rein on this so that we can control the choices and costs made during the successive phases. In this way, we expect to proceed to realization as quickly as possible.”
About the sports centerTo avoid risks, the sports center will be separated from the swimming pool, creating two physical buildings on the site. The swimming pool will of course be retained and will have a new entrance. Due to high renovation costs and significant maintenance and operating expenses, Hall 2 will be demolished upon completion of the new sports center. The new sports center will be positioned so that it is approachable from all sides.
“Right now, architect selection is being started. The design process will start in September. The sports associations will be closely involved in this process. The expectation is to be able to put the new sports center into use after the summer of 2026.” continued Alderman Vermorken.
The new sports center will consist of two large sports halls, a beach hall, a sports café and other spaces, for example for a physio and a dance and martial arts room.
Child centerFor the child center on the Anemoon, Brigantijn is the builder. That means Brigantijn commissions the architect, arranges the tender, awards the contractor and then is the contractor’s principal.
Temporary accommodation for sports Until the new sports center can be put into use, the bladder hall (so-called dome) will continue to serve as temporary accommodation for the athletes, together with hall 2. The bladder hall will not be purchased; the municipality will continue to rent the bladder hall until that time. The bladder hall will receive a new sports floor later this year. Work will also be done to improve the dressing and sanitation facilities at the blast hall.
Hall 2 and the accompanying gymnasium will be refurbished so that sports can be played well and safely there in the coming years. The sports bar will also return there in a limited form and there will be a storage room for all the materials that are currently still in the hallway.
The outdoor area will also be refurbished. A football field has already been built. Recently the goals have been placed and from now on the Born youth can spontaneously play soccer here again.