Múlaþing weighs four options for Valaskjálf community hall

Múlaþing is considering four options for the future of Valaskjálf, a community hall in Egilsstaðir, including buying the hall from the owners of Hótel Valaskjálf, mbl.is reports.

The other options are to lease the hall long-term, buy the entire hotel property or take no action. The options were discussed at a public meeting held by Múlaþing’s building council on Sunday.

Municipal manager Dagmar Ýr Stefánsdóttir presented three scenarios under consideration. The first would involve taking no action, with no direct expenditure but possible indirect costs if facilities for events had to be improved in other municipal halls.

The second option would be to lease the hall from its owners for seven to 10 years at an annual cost of about 29 million króna. This would secure access to the hall, but the municipality would not acquire any ownership interest in the building.

The third option would be to buy the entire property, including the hotel wing, for about 750 million króna. One possibility would then be to move municipal offices there, an idea that has been considered previously, although adapting the building would also involve additional costs.

According to Dagmar, the owners presented a fourth proposal on Friday: that the municipality buy only the community hall.

She stressed that operating a community hall is not a statutory responsibility of the municipality and that Múlaþing has limited capacity for major spending on the facility unless it cuts services or changes the priorities in its investment programme.

Gísli Steinar Gíslason, representing the owners of 701 Hotels ehf., said the hall had generated a loss of about 100 million króna over the past three years. Operating the 1,100-square-metre hall was expensive, he said. The owners were willing to seek the best solution for both themselves and the community, and no decision had been made about changes to the hall.

The hall suffered extensive water damage this summer when a hot-water pipe burst. The owners subsequently said they were considering converting it into accommodation. More than 1,100 people signed a petition calling for the hall to remain available for theatre productions and concerts.

More than 70 people attended Sunday’s public meeting. Those who spoke emphasised Valaskjálf’s importance to cultural life in Egilsstaðir and Hérað.

The matter will be discussed at a Múlaþing council meeting on September 9, although it is considered unlikely that a decision will be made then.

Valaskjálf was built as a community centre for the entire Fljótsdalshérað area and opened exactly 60 years ago. At the time, it had the largest theatre stage outside Iceland’s capital. The municipality of Austur-Hérað sold the hall to the then hotel owners in 1998. The municipality has at times held a long-term lease for the hall, but not in recent years.