Three historic forts on the southern edge of Utrecht are set to get new tenants. The gemeente announced on 24 June 2026 that it has chosen the organisations that will run Forts Lunet I, II and III, after what it describes as an open selection process.

The forts belong to the New Dutch Waterline, which is part of the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Dutch Water Defence Lines. According to the gemeente, the new users are meant to organise cultural and community activities while protecting the forts' heritage and nature. The gemeente also says the activities should make the forts more accessible to the public and support the redevelopment of the surrounding Maarschalkerweerd area into a large park.

The gemeente received 21 plans in total and picked one winning party for each fort.

Lunet I: a cultural and green breeding ground

At Lunet I the overarching tenant is DePlaatsmaker, an organisation that works to create and sustain places where art and culture can develop. Two further groups will be active there. Stichting BUI/Onderbuik, a collective of Utrecht music makers, plans a music breeding ground in the fort's atomic bunker. Grounded, which already uses the flank casemates, will continue and organise events with a sustainable and/or social character.

Lunet II: art, studios and heritage

Lunet II goes to Het Front. The gemeente lists art and research projects, studios, a cultural stage, workspaces for artists and small-scale hospitality among its plans. The gemeente says it is exploring a night-culture programme with the initiators, on up to twenty occasions a year, alongside the day and evening programme. That is an exploration, not a settled permission.

Lunet III: a quiet neighbourhood fort

Lunet III is intended as a quiet "neighbourhood fort" with green, healthy activities for residents of nearby neighbourhoods. The tenant is Stichting De weg van de held, which supports young people with support needs from Utrecht and surrounding areas and will organise neighbourhood-focused activities. Scouting Salwega and the after-school care provider BSO Kind&co Ludens, which have used the fort in recent years, will stay.

What happens next

The winning parties become definitive tenants only once their lease contracts with the gemeente are signed. The gemeente expects that to happen after the summer of 2026. The tenants will then prepare and carry out their plans, and the new activities are expected to roll out on the forts from 2027. The gemeente's announcement does not give rent amounts or detailed lease terms, so it is not clear what the tenants will pay or what conditions apply.

The announcement frames the change as a step away from short-term arrangements: "Na jaren van tijdelijk gebruik, gaan nieuwe én bestaande organisaties aan de slag", which translates as: after years of temporary use, new and existing organisations will get to work.

For English-speaking residents, the practical takeaway is that these forts, which sit within a nationally important landscape, are likely to become more open places for concerts, studios, events and neighbourhood activity in the coming years. Dates and programmes have not yet been published, and the plans described here are the tenants' intentions as reported by the gemeente rather than finished results.