Keep fireworks away from the windmill!
This year is the last time consumer fireworks may be set off. If the signs are not misleading, many will 'go completely wild.' This undoubtedly applies to residents of Molenwerf, Fabrieksgracht, and surrounding streets as well. But… with the arrival of the new thatched windmill comes a call to think even more carefully than usual about what and how you set it off. Take the wind direction into account and keep a sufficient distance from the new windmill! Surely we don't want it to take another 129 years before Den Helder gets a windmill back?
When will the mill start turning?
There is much to be proud of in Den Helder, but that certainly applies to the newest addition: Molenwerf. A total of 34 homes in a historic style. With the main eye-catcher, of course, being the windmill De Goede Verwachting, a replica of the original that burned down in 1897. But when will that windmill actually start turning?
Anyone driving through Den Helder sees the windmill towering proudly above the city all the way to the Schootenweg. Not only has it already been photographed frequently, but at the request of the Housing Foundation, the autistic illustrator and author Kees Momma, known from various television and film documentaries and TV appearances, has captured the windmill in great detail on paper.
‘Supreme joy’
The end result is certainly impressive. Kees Momma himself reaches that conclusion as well, by the way. The resident of Velp finds the result to be 'one that leads to particularly great satisfaction.' "Or rather, to supreme joy," he reports in his characteristic manner.,So much so, that I decided to have duplicates of the work made at the screen printing shop. For my archive. I keep the reproduction(s) in a special folder.’
Drawing the windmill in detail was a gigantic task, by the way; Momma makes no secret of that. "For nearly four weeks, I drew intensively from early morning until late afternoon. I had to concentrate to the utmost to depict the windmill as realistically as possible."’
Beautiful spot
The housing association hopes that Kees Momma's drawing will find a nice spot in the information center that will be located in the windmill.
Meanwhile, employees of the Zaan-based company Jan Vet Monumenten have been busy inside the mill over the past few weeks assembling and installing the largely wooden gearing and accessories. Helder Vastgoed Schilderwerken painted the mill's gallery, among other things. Recently, the position of the cap with the sails was rotated to the north for a few days.
Bakers
The Housing Foundation expects the mill to be operational in January. However, this does not yet mean that De Goede Verwachting will actually start turning immediately and – as is ultimately the intention – grind flour for bakers. The mill will be operated by the Helderse Molenstichting, which has volunteer millers at its disposal for this purpose. The Housing Foundation and the Mill Foundation will consult in the coming period regarding the agreements and preconditions for this operation. Only when an agreement has been reached can the mill actually be put into operation. At that time, the fitting out of the bed & breakfast and the information centre inside the mill will also begin.
Homes
By now, all sixteen owner-occupied homes have been sold and all eighteen rental homes have been rented out. This therefore also applies to the two mill houses. Their new tenants have already started furnishing their unique homes. The Housing Foundation will install decorative fences on both the terraces of the mill houses and the front gardens of the rental homes on the south side of Molenwerf, giving the neighborhood an even more beautiful appearance.
Public space
The firm Cnossen Infra BV from Sneek, commissioned by the municipality of Den Helder, is currently completing the landscaping of the public space on the Fabrieksgracht side of Molenwerf, including paving, sidewalks, and parking spaces. The intention is for the work to be completed before the end of this year.
RONALD DEN BOER
