Rotterdam museum lands €112 million in funding, with €80 million from billionaire family

The Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen has secured 112 million euros in donations and commitments to help the Rotterdam museum complete an extensive renovation and refurbishment which started in 2019. The money includes a commitment of up to 80 million euros from the Droom en Daad Foundation, the philanthropic organization representing the billionaire Van der Vorm family behind the Holland-America Line and HAL Investments.

The City of Rotterdam owns the building, and its political leadership said on Friday that it wants to invest another 23 million euros on top of over 200 million euros it previously pledged to tackle the renovation and asbestos removal. The additional nine million euros was provided by a collection of other donors.

The museum, the Mecanoo architecture firm, and political leaders presented revised plans for the project on Friday. It will include a sunken entrance on the Museumpark courtyard, the coniued renovation of the Hannemazaal space, a covered courtyard, the renovation of the façade of the Bodon wing, and improved access for trucks thanks to a new loading dock.

The total costs are now expected to hit 359 million euros. The renovation work was initially estimated to cost about 180 million euros, but it was already clear by the end of 2021 that it would cost at least 43 million euros more. At that time, the city boosted its own commitment to the project to nearly 200 million euros.

Rotterdam Alderman Maarten Struijvenberg announced a year ago that the revision was on hold due to the skyrocketing renovation costs. The city’s coalition including the mayor and alderman had to submit there plans to City Council by the end of the month.

Struijvenberg has provided a worst-case scenario to City Council which calls for a further increase of 100 million euros. The full City Council will debate the matter after the summer, including 15 million euros needed to pay for earlier design plans which have since been scrapped.

The renovation work could be finished in 2029, three years behind schedule. The museum itself would then open the following year. The museum could be asked to pay more rent for use of the building.

The gift from the Droom en Daad Foundation was badly needed to move the project forward, said Rotterdam Alderman Said Kasmi. “We as a city should consider ourselves fortunate with this.”

The foundation itself would not comment.