A party in Annie’s pub. Photo: Brabant Student Guild The renovation of the Asserpark residence in 2024 spells the end of the legendary ‘Annie’s Kroeg’. And with it, the loss of an important meeting place for small student clubs. The Hoevestein and Dijkgraaf residences are due for renovation in the next few years too. Student associations are worried. Is the end of student residence bars in sight? And if so, where can they go?
There were once five of the star-shaped blocks of student flats, each with a bar run by residents. Now there are three left: Annie’s Kroeg at Asserpark, Woeste Hoeve at Hoevestein and the Bunker at Dijkgraaf. And next year there will only be two. Small student societies and study associations make grateful use of these bars. The Indian Student Association (ISA), for example, throws a party in Annie’s every month, and Biologica study association runs game nights and silent discos, and holds its AGM there.
‘We don’t have our own clubhouse, so we usually run our activities in Annie’s,’ says Marit van Hooren (22), who is on the board of the Brabant Student Guild (BSG). Together with other regional associations ’t Noaberschop (for students from the eastern Netherlands) and WSSFS (for Frisians), the BSG looked into the feasibility of sharing a clubhouse. It proved unviable financially, says fellow board member Kim Wassenberg (21). ‘The university buildings close early in the evening, so that’s not an option. It’s too expensive to rent a room for our association at a pub in town. You can sit in the pub like everyone else, but then you are never on your own as an association.’ That’s what makes the bars in the student residences so handy for the small associations, says Kim. ‘We can book Annie’s for our association for a few hours free of charge. It’s run by students, for students. You only pay for what you drink, and a beer costs 1.40 euros.’
From AGM to pub quiz
So BSG runs activities every Wednesday in Annie’s or another of the student residence bars. Van Hooren: ‘From an AGM to a potluck to a pub quiz.’ Wassenberg: ‘Annie’s is perfect for that: it’s got a nice atmosphere, drinks, music and light. We sometimes do things in other spaces, like the living room at Nieuwe Kanaal. But it’s not the same.’
The BSG students are concerned about the small clubs that use the residence bars as their home base. ‘The closure of Annie’s is a threat to our survival. There are fewer and fewer good meeting places. These clubs may be small, but a lot of people depend on them for their social life.’ The bars play an importance role in student nightlife too. ‘After their club activities, a lot of people go on to Woeste or the Bunker to dance.’
So the plans to renovate Hoevestein (2026) and possibly to demolish and rebuild Dijkgraaf (2027/2028) are worrying the small Wageningen associations: are Woeste Hoeve and the Bunker going to disappear? No decision has been made on that yet, says Idealis director Bart van As. ‘We have noticed that the bars have not been very popular with our tenants for a few years now. We conduct a survey on resident satisfaction every year.
Our mission is to provide student housing, not facilities for study associations
Over the past four years, the residents seem to have been using the bars less and finding them more and more of a nuisance. Annie’s was intended for Asserpark residents but it is mainly used by people who don’t live there. For us, that was reason to use the space for a meeting place that meets the needs of Asserpark residents better.’
That does not suggest a rosy future for the Bunker and Woeste Hoeve. Van As: ‘We are not taking a decision on that at this stage. As the renovation of those residences comes closer, we’ll look at the issue case by case. What are the problems, and what do the residents think of the bars? We do have a clear policy of creating meeting places for our residents. If the residents were all to start going to the bars and enjoying them, then it’s fine to keep them open. But the surveys of recent years suggest otherwise.’
Van As agrees that it is important for Wageningen to offer places for smaller clubs to meet. ‘But at the same time, we don’t think that’s Idealis’s job. Our mission is to provide student housing, not facilities for study associations.’ After the renovation, residents will still be able to rent the meeting room for their association meetings, Van As explains.
Annie’s alternative
Meanwhile, the associations put their heads together. The student council got involved too. Councillor Wessel Weterings: ‘Associations with no premises of their own need to know where they stand in good time.’ He understands that Idealis prioritizes the interests of its tenants. ‘At the same time, there are other groups for whom the bars are important.
The closure of Annie’s is a threat to our survival
The end of Annie’s means the loss of a place where student groups of all kinds can meet, where you can organize an event and where you can party for a good student price. If Idealis decides to close the other residence bars, we must keep Wageningen’s student culture alive. Perhaps the International Club could be an option? Or a new student bar on campus? Or make it easier to rent space at big societies?’
But it hasn’t come to that yet, says Weterings. ‘We want to sit down soon with all those involved, from Idealis to the associations, and from the university to the municipality. In the end, everyone benefits if Wageningen’s club life flourishes. We don’t know what’s going to happen to the Bunker and Woeste Hoeve yet. But it is good to start discussing the options in plenty of time.’
