From next year on, monumental churches in Utrecht will no longer receive subsidies from the municipality. They will only be able to borrow money for restoration work; maintenance work will no longer be subsidized in any way.
With this decision, the municipal coalition in Utrecht wants to ensure monumental churches are not treated differently from other types of monuments, which are expected to generate their own funds. In the previous years, 27 of Utrecht’s 37 churches made use of the subsidies, amounting to an average of 7400 euros per church per year. The decision affects both churches still used for worship and those which have found new uses.
Three local political parties protest against the decision, stating that it is naive to treat churches like any other type of monument. “Most monuments are in the hands of private owners. Churches have much more difficulty to generate funds. They clearly serve a public use: they are used for concerts, by the university, and soforth. It is very strange that the municipality suddenly chooses to cold-shoulder them.”
Read the whole article in Dutch here.
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