In 1883, the city of Amsterdam granted the British Imperial Continental Gas Association (ICGA) a concession to build a coal gas plant in the western part of the city. The gas factory was to be located in the former Overbraker Binnenpolder, between the main water way from Amsterdam to Haarlem – the Haarlemmertrekvaart – and the newly built railway tracks between the two cities.

On the left, the Overbraker Binnenpolder mill seen from the Haarlemmerweg. This mill was located between the later Westerpark and the Westergasfabriek and was demolished in 1883.