Building van Liempt
This location is part of the Wet Blue route.
After the merger of Waalwijk with its then neighboring municipalities - now boroughs - Baardwijk and Besoijen in 1922, the need for a larger town hall soon arose. Five years later, the decision was made to build a new building. Three architects were invited to make a design: Hendrik Valk (the master builder of the Waalwijk St. Jan), Alexander Kropholler, known for his traditional style, and Jos Klijnen, whose innovative ideas are held in high regard in professional circles but are less well known to the general public.
The plan submitted by Valk was rejected in the first round and the battle continued between Kropholler and Klijnen. Both architects had fierce opponents and emotions ran high. Finally, at the end of 1930, the City Council voted to implement Kropholler's design.
Municipal...
This location is part of the Wet Blue route.
After the merger of Waalwijk with its then neighboring municipalities - now boroughs - Baardwijk and Besoijen in 1922, the need for a larger town hall soon arose. Five years later, the decision was made to build a new building. Three architects were invited to make a design: Hendrik Valk (the master builder of the Waalwijk St. Jan), Alexander Kropholler, known for his traditional style, and Jos Klijnen, whose innovative ideas are held in high regard in professional circles but are less well known to the general public.
The plan submitted by Valk was rejected in the first round and the battle continued between Kropholler and Klijnen. Both architects had fierce opponents and emotions ran high. Finally, at the end of 1930, the City Council voted to implement Kropholler's design.
City Clerk Toon van Liempt belongs to the Klijnen supporters' camp from the very beginning. During the decisive council meeting, he tried to win over his opponents with a passionate plea, to no avail. The council meeting turned out to be Van Liempt's last public appearance, as he was seriously ill.
During his sickbed, Van Liempt agrees with his wife Dora to have architect Jos Klijnen, with whom the two have become good friends, build a residence in the backyard of their home. Dora fulfills the last wish of her husband, who dies in 1931, and already in 1932 the modern urban villa on Mr. van Coothstraat appears. The unusual roof shapes bear much resemblance to Klijnen's second design for the new city hall.
In 1961 the house was expanded with an extension on the garden side and the villa has been a national monument since 2002.
