New milestone development FiftyTwoDegrees
08 February 2006
On 17 March 2006 a Covenant will be signed by 15 different parties from government, knowledge institutions and employers. This Covenant focuses on more detailed development of phase 1b of the FiftyTwoDegrees Business Innovation Centre and the further development plan for the area. With this agreement the parties wish to express that together they will make every effort to investigate the feasibility of the various phases of the project. The signing will take place in the FiftyTwoDegrees Information Pavilion, named P52.
The feasibility study is primarily directed at the future functions within phase 1b of FiftyTwoDegrees, including the Central Congress and Exhibition Centre, comprising of state of the art congress and meeting facilities, a black box with digital (music) theatre and exhibition space, foyer and banqueting accommodation and also FiftyTwoDegrees Living, comprising a Design Hotel, Resorts & Apartments, Wellness and Catering area with Retail. Along with the already built car park, infrastructure has been included in the transport facilities to integrate the public transport system including a light-rail station in the planned area. The parties are endeavouring to complete the feasibility study by 1 December 2006.
Parallel to this development an investigation is being carried out into the practicality of a (supra-) regional business & leisure network under the provisional name of Club 52 and the Embedded Business Lab, a business model to identify innovative applications. The office tower and the other buildings to be developed are provided with the newest technological applications. Phase 1a of the project will be delivered at the beginning of 2007. The delivery of phase 1b is planned for 2010.
The potential contract parties involved in this Covenant are, along with initiator FiftyTwoDegrees, Philips Semiconductors Nijmegen, the Compass Group Nederland BV, ROC Nijmegen, InBev Nederland N.V., St. Radboud University Medical Centre, the Canisius-Wilhelmina Hospital, the Saint Maartens Clinic, NEC Football Club and Royal Haskoning. The supporting parties are the City of Nijmegen, Ontwikkelingsmaatschappij Oost Nederland N.V. (East Netherlands Development Company), the Chamber of Commerce for Central Gelderland, City Region of Arnhem & Nijmegen (KAN) and the Nijmegen SME.
The development of employment and the strengthening of the economic structure that are associated with this project are both of major importance for the City of Nijmegen. The Council is a major proponent for the development of a cluster of knowledge intensive businesses such as that which is taking shape in the Winkelsteeg.
The Mayoress, Ms. R. W. ter Horst will officially open the P52 information pavilion directly following the signing. This information centre has been partly made possible by the City of Nijmegen, Philips Semiconductors Nijmegen, Ontwikkelingsmaatschappij Oost N.V., ROC Nijmegen, the Compass Group, InBev en Royal Haskoning. The information centre takes care of the promotion of FiftyTwoDegrees and for stressing its distinctive features and is situated at the head of the building on the southern side of the tower.
