The district of Savaneta is receiving special attention for its cultural heritage through the Savaneta First Capital Foundation, which is doing a formidable job of beautifying historical houses in Aruba’s first city.
This morning, the foundation made an important announcement regarding the beautification of historical houses in the district. A conversation took place with the foundation’s president, Norman Thijsen.
The president emphasized the importance of preserving cultural values combined with a touristic touch, offering visitors everything Savaneta has to offer. Besides the beach, there are seaside restaurants and visible historical houses. The aim is to give these houses a “new touch” to beautify and renovate them. Thijsen emphasized that the foundation does not restore houses, as the “Monumentenfonds” is the institution that authentically restores historic houses or buildings.
The Savaneta First Capital Foundation beautifies the houses, and today they are focusing on the first house the foundation beautified last year. It has become a popular house, much loved by locals and tourists who visit the historical house to take photos.
This type of project aligns with the foundation’s vision, and they announced the next four houses selected to receive a “new touch” and become very beautiful, just like the first house renovated in 2023.
Often, the focus is on visible houses, and they have not yet addressed the houses located in the back area of Savaneta. Currently, the focus is on visible houses, but Thijsen assured that the foundation will also give other houses in the district a chance.
The president explained that during the first two to three years, the foundation will concentrate on the historical houses along the main road and the “strip” (area) at Zeerovers, a very famous strip.
The foundation is approaching the owners of the historical houses. Some accept the proposal, while others prefer to do the beautification work themselves. Thijsen explained, “If there are owners who do not have the financial means, the foundation can help in such cases.”
For the houses selected for beautification, the foundation makes the selection but cannot handle many due to the large expense. The president emphasized, “Thank God we have sponsors who are helping. Without the sponsors, it would not be possible, but we also receive help from volunteers.”
A volunteer group will be created to divide the work among the four houses. The beautification work will start in June and be completed by September 2024.
Funds for this project are received through fundraising, including a BBQ event. The president stated, “We started with the principle that we stand for ourselves and seek the necessary funds. It’s easy to knock on the government’s door for help with everything, but that’s not the point. There are many projects the foundation wants to work on with the government. Certain projects fall under the government’s authority. For example, we can’t just fix a beach.”
He added that there are other projects the foundation can handle independently. The residents of Savaneta responsible for the foundation showed, “We must show on our own strength that we can move forward for our district, our community, our neighborhood. Using everyone involved, a neighborhood comes together and paints a house. At the same time, families come and help significantly, as happened last year. This way, the neighborhood comes to life.”
Thijsen expressed his gratitude to everyone helping, especially the sponsors who have faithfully cooperated since last year.
A conversation was also held with Jeffrey Kock, a “Paint Specialist” at Kooyman. The representative of the company and the Global Paints line supports the project by providing attention to the historical houses. Since Thijsen contacted the company explaining the foundation’s plan, Kooyman immediately supported the foundation. Kock explained “To paint a house, materials are needed to start preparation. Kooyman and Global Paints are contributing to the beautification of the historical houses.”
Kock added, “Kooyman is always focused on beautification projects, and we are on board with this again.”
Also present at the occasion was Kimberly Boekhoudt, Corporate Support Officer at SETAR N.V.
Boekhoudt indicated that this is the second time SETAR has contributed to the Savaneta First Capital Foundation. Last year, they contributed to the first phase of this project and are pleased to be able to cooperate with the foundation once again.
The representative of the national telecommunications company emphasized that this is an important project to renovate historical houses and cultural heritage. For the national company, it is always important to “maintain what is ours, through culture, music, and in this case, by maintaining our historical houses.”
Considering the impact the project has, both in the neighborhood itself and for visitors to Aruba, tourists who stop by can appreciate the beauty of the historical houses. Boekhoudt underscored, “You see the community coming together to make this project possible.”
