Family foundation bails out Rotterdam museum renovation

The wealthy Rotterdam family Van der Vorm is injecting €80 million into the renovation of the city’s Boijmans Van Beuningen museum.

Family foundation Droom en Daad (dream and deed) agreed to the investment after the city council also agreed to increase its contribution to the rebuilding plans. The project is costing €136 million on top of the earlier budget of €223 million.

The museum has been closed since 2019 after it was branded a fire hazard and was found to be riddled with asbestos. It is supposed to reopen in 2030. The museum’s depot is currently open to the public instead.

Last year the foundation hit the headlines when it gave the city a four-metre high statue of a black woman dressed in jogging pants and trainers who now looks out over Rotterdam’s busy Stationsplein.

And earlier this year it emerged that other family foundations are to pay off the debts of 1,000 low income Rotterdam families a year.

The Van der Vorm family, which originally derived its wealth from shipping and the Holland America Line cruise empire, is said to be worth €9 billion by business magazine Quote.