Federal Building (1911-1923)
At the western corner of the Loeffstraat and Veldsteeg, there was a house with yard and garden up to the Winterdijk in 1832. In 1838 this was converted into a double house. In 1845 both houses burned down and they were rebuilt, in a different form, five years later. The western house is still from that time (1850). Behind this dwelling was shoe factory "Jac. Oomens" who made women's shoes for his brother-in-law Ivo van Haren. Later, the newly built house was purchased by the municipality of Baardwijk to house a union building. In 1910 there was a need in Baardwijk for a meeting room, both for meetings and for theater and song performances. A year later, Gerardus van Haaren, pastor of St. Clemens parish (1884 1914), took the initiative to build a patronage and union building for the R.C. workmen's association 'Leo-Bond', Baardwijk section. This name was to honor Pope Leo XIII as the spiritual father of Catholic social action.
The building, decorated with a beautiful frieze in red and yellow brick, was designed by N.J.H. (Jacques) van Groenendael, architect of the St. Clemens Church. Contractor was J. van Hulten of Baardwijk. The ancient traffic route from Loon op Zand to Doeveren ran through the Baardwijksche Steeg and the Veldsteeg. The junction with the Kruisstraat (now: Loeffstraat) was important for the municipality of Baardwijk at the time; there was even the village pump there. The oldest known deed mentioning the Veldsteeg dates from 1638.
Patronage
In 1911 the union building was festively opened by the Liedertafel 'Tot Bloei der Toonkunst'. What was special was that it was a union building annexed to a special (Roman Catholic) school. The clubhouse with its auditorium was used by club life and films were also shown there: "More than 100 shows were shown with the cinema". During World War I, the association building was temporarily (1915) furnished as a military home for the soldiers billeted here. During the Spanish flu of 1918, the building functioned as an emergency hospital.
One year after the municipal redivision (1922), the Public Primary School in Torenstraat was closed because there were too few pupils. There was no municipal requirement to keep a public school open. The boys had to go to the public or Catholic elementary school in Waalwijk center. In 1923, the patronage moved to the former Public Primary School. The new union building was festively opened on October 22, 1923. In the same year, the old association building was converted into a residential house and passed into private hands. The associations were later given a new home in Community House "De Ouwe Toren" (Loeffstraat 117).