GORINCHEM – The mighty vehicles of the demolition company are in the Struisvogelstraat. The right-hand outer wall of the former primary school De Nieuwe Schutter has disappeared, you can look straight into the old kitchen. At the neighbours at number 5, where the Gorcumse Courant was located until last autumn, a bite has been taken out of the roof. Everything has to make way for the new construction of the V&D department store.
Local residents were shocked to see last week that the silver lime tree, which had adorned the schoolyard since time immemorial, was also being cut down. According to the architects, it was not possible to fit it into the building plan and relocation was also not an option, although two objections were filed against the felling of the tree.
"Since the development plan, after more than two years of procedures, should not experience any more stagnation as far as we are concerned, we have decided to have the lime tree in question felled soon, despite the fact that there are still possibilities to appeal to the court," the board of mayor and aldermen explained to the Gorcum municipal council. No bird nests were found in the tree, it is added.
When both buildings on Struisvogelstraat and the opposite buildings on Krijtstraat (including the former school building in which several immigrant associations were housed for years) have been demolished, soil remediation will begin. It is suspected that the plot is heavily contaminated with lead. In addition to that lead, there may be more in the soil. "The archaeological expectation of the location on Krijtstaat is very high," the board writes to the council.
Three years ago, an exploratory study was conducted for this purpose. The location, in the middle of the medieval city centre against the St. Janstoren, is possibly on top of archaeological remains that date back to the fourteenth century. Archaeologists hope to find traces of the court that the Van Arkel family had at this location.
When all buildings are gone, the land offers, according to the city archaeologist, 'an excellent opportunity to investigate the residential history of Gorinchem over a long period of time'.
The city hall estimates the costs of this research at 95 thousand euros. The board wants to submit a further proposal to the city council at a later date.
19 – 6‑2002
Gorcumse Courant