USP will have a community centre and parcel collection point

The building between Pizzeria Tricolore and Eat Out has been vacant for a long time, after the office supplies shop Primera left the space. Now, it has been decided that the place will house a community centre, whose inauguration date is yet to be announced. Some details are yet to be finalised.

Residents of Utrecht Science Park used to appreciate Primera's parcel collection service. This service will now be moved to the wall outside the Spar supermarket. It will be available 24/7 from 22 January onwards. 

The square on Coïmbrapad between Spar and the University Library will be redesigned and enlarged to include outdoor seating for the future community centre. Two plans have been presented for USP residents and visitors to choose from. They are also invited to make additional suggestions. 

Design A proposes adding artificial grass to the square, along with benches and parasols. The pavement around the grass would be painted to make it look as if the benches were on a rug. It also suggests adding more greenery to the square. Design B suggests installing festive lighting above the seats, painting the pavement, and adding a pergola and more greenery. 

Interested in seeing both designs? You can check them out through this link. Voting is open until Sunday, 25 January.

USP Council
The community centre, the parcel point and the square's renovation are the first tangible results of a new consultative body at Utrecht Science Park, operating under the name USP Council. This consultative body includes the university, the university of applied sciences, the student housing provider SSH, the USP foundation, and representatives of the residents, according to Marco van Stralen. The HU lecturer is one of the two quartermasters of USP. Quartermasters connect the organisations housed at USP and the people living there, trying to make the residents' wishes for a livelier neighbourhood come true.

The renovation of the former Primera building is almost complete. Van Stralen says that the rent is paid by the various parties of the USP Council. Two student coordinators will run the community centre and will probably be paid for this work, says Van Stralen. The rest of the work will be done by volunteers who live in the neighbourhood. In addition to serving as a place for spontaneous meetings, the community centre will also host regular activities.

Ray Polman, representative of the housing associations at Utrecht Science Park, is pleased with the consultation and the steps taken. "The community centre is for everyone at Science Park. We intend for the community centre to be open in the evenings and at weekends, giving residents an opportunity to meet each other."

He hopes that these meetings will contribute to a more vibrant USP. In a recent op-ed on DUB, he explains how he became politically active at Science Park. Initially, this USP resident had no interest in his surroundings. That was until he decided to investigate what the neighbourhood had to offer its residents and how residents could get in touch with each other.