Redevelopment of Fort Nieuw Amsterdam
Concept
The Fort Nieuw Amsterdam (Open Air Museum) Trust was created on the 28th of January 2008. The Trust combines the efforts of Surinam and international partners to redevelop the site and reinstate the Fort’s former significance to the Surinam people and to foreign visitors.Cultural education
Fort Nieuw Amsterdam is important to Surinam history and is known as a significant cultural heritage site.The Fort currently operates as an Open air museum and heritage centre. The Fort’s history also greatly justifies its future function as a centre of awareness and knowledge of Surinam unity. The Fort will combine education and leisure and to this purpose the redevelopment of the early 19th century fortifications (amongst which the gunpowder storage rooms, waterways and the 1874 prison) will be completed first.
Natural environment
Fort Nieuw Amsterdam Open Air Museum is situated in a large parkland, which is surrounded by the star-shaped walls of the fortification. The Surinam and Commewijne rivers meet directly next to the Fort, which results in a wide variety of flora and fauna around it: the rivers are home to dolphins, the mangrove forests nearby shelter red ibis, sea turtles share Matapica beach and there are kaiman in the waterways of the fort.The parklands of the Fort are being redeveloped, featuring new footpaths and an information centre about the Fort’s history and unique surroundings.
Visitors to Fort Nieuw Amsterdam should also consider making a trip to nearby Nieuw Amsterdam, a characteristic Surinam village.
Leisure
Fort Nieuw Amsterdam Open Air Museum offers plenty of scope for a wide variety of cultural and leisure activities, such as traditional music, song and dance. However, visitors can also simply enjoy a leisurely day out at the Fort. Visitors may enjoy fishing, walking, having a drink or a meal on site.Organising and facilitating these activities should contribute to the Fort’s attractiveness as a tourist attraction, primarily for children and their parents.
Extended partnerships
The project is based on cooperation between the Netherlands and Surinam because of their joint cultural heritage. In Surinam the Ministery of Education and Culture’s directorat of Culture and the SGES Foundation (Surinam Built Heritage Foundation) are important partners in the redevelopment of Fort Nieuw Amsterdam. Dutch partners include the Zuiderzeemuseum in Enkhuizen, NV Stadsherstel Amsterdam and Amsterdam City council.Links have also been established between Stichting Arbeidsmobilisatie en Ontwikkeling (SAO) in Paramaribo and Stichting Herstelling from Amsterdam. Both foundations offer education and practise-periods to young people that were unable to complete regular eduction. These youngsters are trained, by means of very specific vocational education, to qualify for a job on the regular employment market despite their difficult circumstances.
The wide range of redevelopment activities at the Fort offers a fine opportunity to acquire essential work experience that can be combined with theoretical education. As such, redevelopment of the Fort also assures a better future for the participating youths. Both Foundations and the individual work masters wish to learn from each other’ experiences. The project offers solid foundations for the exchange of knowledge into the future.
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