On Wednesday evening,  February 3 2016, De Meent sports complex was officially opened for public! The theme of the opening was ‘relay race’, as a representation of the whole process. This evening was the final part of the race. Wilfred Genee, a well-know tv-host in the Netherlands, was appointed to ‘coach’ the guests to the finish. After a tour with some amazing sport demonstrations along the way, the estafet-baton  reached its final destination. Alderman Pieter Dijkman  handed it over to Vincent Thijssen, director of Alkmaar Sport N.V., who will exploit  ‘De Meent’.   The 40 yrs old De Meent sports complex needed to be modernized and expanded in order to reduce the shortage of indoor sports facilities in the city of Alkmaar and to meet to the current and future standards of all sports users. Therefore, VenhoevenCS gave the old sports complex a complete makeover and a large extension, with a new (top)sports hall and several gyms, which meet the requirements of NOC*NSF, new dressing rooms and a prominent new entry. De Meent is designed to facilitate both top sport and recreational sport, to make people enthusiastic for sports and to emphasizes Alkmaar’s sport ambition.   Already different sport tournaments are planned to take place in the new de Meent: from the 12th  to the 14th of February the Dutch all-round speed skating championships for  juniors, February 20 the national final of the KPN Marathon Cup (ice skating) and in March there will be multiple martial arts competitions. The semi final of the Dutch gymnastics championships, an international volleyball tournament and the Dutch trampoline championships are scheduled later this year.   More information about the upcoming events, for example the recreational sport activities in the spring break, can be found here:  http://www.demeentalkmaar.nl/over-ons/agenda/

On Saturday June 13th from 10 – 16 hrs, everyone is welcome to pay a visit to the building site of the new De Meent sports complex in Alkmaar. The building will be completed by the end of 2015 by main contractor Vaessen, but during the ‘Dag van de Bouw’, the building site of De Meent is already open to interested parties. Besides informative tours every half hour there are many activities for young and old.   It is the first time the public can visit the new sports complex, designed by VenhoevenCS architecture+urbanism. During the tours, visitors are informed about the latest developments, they get a glimpse of the future building and they can meet the new users of De Meent. In addition to the tour, a large number of activities will be organized at the De Meent building site, such as: – Live music – Technology Corner, learning carpentry and bricklaying – Skating Simulator – Demonstrations – Bouncy castle – Face Painting – Skate Clinic – Beach Volleyball Clinic   Dag van de Bouw will take place on Saturday June 13th from 10:00 to 16:00. Address De Meent sports complex: Terborchlaan 301 Alkmaar.   More information on Dag van de Bouw.