The Cobra Museum in Amstelveen will be helped out of trouble in the short term by a loan from a private art lover. The museum says that thanks to the commitment it is “out of acute financial need”, but it still wants to look for a structural solution with the municipality of Amstelveen. The municipality wants to stop subsidizing the museum from next year.
After almost thirty years, the curtain is in danger of closing for the Cobra Museum, after the municipality of Amstelveen announced last week that it wanted to stop the annual subsidy of 1.2 million from next year.
The municipality had known for years that the museum was in dire financial straits due to disappointing visitor figures, but a few weeks ago the problems turned out to be bigger than expected. Due to the loss of 350,000 euros for 2022, the council already had doubts about the subsidy for the coming period, but the risks were considered irresponsible when it turned out that the expected loss would amount to 700,000 euros at the end of this year.
New base
The museum has announced that healthcare entrepreneur Marius Touwen is prepared to provide a so-called credit facility. This means that Cobra can use its money to pay outstanding bills and debts, but ultimately has to pay it back, writes NH Nieuws.
Museum director Stefan van Raay says he is grateful: “This gesture enables the museum to enter into discussions with the municipality of Amstelveen on a new basis,” he writes in a statement. “There is now time and space to develop a structural solution for the long-term survival of the museum.”
Closure not yet off the table
The municipality has not yet definitively decided to stop the subsidy. The city council has yet to make a decision on this. The council will discuss the issue at a scheduled council meeting on Wednesday. Initially, the council would immediately vote on the council proposal, but last week it was announced that they would have two weeks longer to do so.
A spokesperson for the municipality tells AT5 that “it is good to hear that help is coming from private sources” but that the municipal council will discuss the new situation tomorrow morning.
- Cobra Museum ‘shocked’ by subsidy stop, asks for extra time
- The municipality of Amstelveen no longer wants to subsidize the ailing Cobra Museum
- Amstelveen’s Cobra Museum has even bigger financial problems than expected
