It might sound like something out of a cheesy 1980s action movie, but the Bella Vista Ferris wheel in Noordwijk has been deemed a security risk by organisers of the upcoming Nato summit.

They fear it could be used to attack attendees staying in the coastal community’s hotels, among them US President Donald Trump.

On Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Trump will indeed attend the summit and according to unconfirmed reports, the Dutch foreign ministry has rented out Noordwijk’s entire Grand Hotel Huis ter Duin for him and his staff.

The Bella Vista overlooks a parking lot and a roadway that sits between it and the hotel.

While the wheel itself will remain in place, its 36 passenger cabins will be removed for a few weeks to coincide with the summit, which will take place at the World Forum conference centre in The Hague at the end of this month.

Due to the limited capacity of hotels in The Hague, many of the summit’s 6,500 attendees will be staying outside the city. Noordwijk’s hotels are expected to be especially busy.

Extensive security measures will be in effect for the summit and a wide array of preparations are underway. Residents across Zuid Holland were warned months ahead of time to expect major traffic delays, detours, and road closures.

Along with the construction of temporary offices for delegates, trees and street lights will be removed in various areas, but battening down the Bella Vista could arguably be the strangest request from the summit’s organisers.

Not an easy task

The wheel’s location manager Hans Imanse told Dutch News that the security precautions will be a costly endeavour, but said he and his colleagues were warned about them well ahead of time.

Their current operating permit is set to expire in October and one of the conditions was that the attraction might need to be secured for the summit.

“They sent us a letter and told us we would have to take down the cabins because of safety issues,” he said. “It’s the largest Ferris wheel in the Netherlands at 50 metres high and the hotel where Trump could be sleeping is close by.”

Along with removing the cabins, further measures will be taken to make sure the Bella Vista can’t be used for nefarious purposes.

Fencing

“The whole wheel will be surrounded by big fences and we will do everything necessary to prevent anyone from climbing it,” Imanse said.

He estimated preparing the wheel for the summit will cost “at least €10,000” and the bill will not be covered by the summit organisers or Noordwijk town council.

Getting the cabins removed will take about two days. Once they’re down, they’ll need to be transported to a storage facility in Weert and brought back two weeks later. Once they’re reinstalled, safety inspectors will need to look everything over and give their approval before the wheel can be reopened to the public.

“It will be a costly and intense operation for us,” Imanse said. “But we are very proud the Netherlands was able to organise and host the summit.”