The design of this building dates back to 1744. Construction, however, did not commence until 1775. The building was finished in 1778. The building, as you see it today, is original. It has a large arcade that carries the eaves beams, so there is no actual roof construction. The arcade is 60 centimetres thick, thicker at the base.
Make sure to take note of the decorative ironworks on the facade of the building. It includes the Surinam Society (SVS) shield, a combination of the shields of Amsterdam (the X) and those of the West Indian Company and the Van Aersen van Sommelsdijck family. Those three parties combined to form the Society, which aimed for the profitable exploitation of the colony.
The facade anchors at the front of the building together form the construction date of the building: 1778.
The dutch design of the building proved inefficient in use. It was too damp for effective storage of gunpowder. One of the Dutch governors present at the time complained about it in his letters:
'In general I look onto the fortress with sadness, as onto a sick child. Its costs will never be in proportion to its benefits. She looks representable on the map, and if she's been in Brabant (The Netherlands) I believe she would have been a beautiful achievement. Though during the entire construction, no notice was taken of local circumstances in this country.
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