Those who pass by the harbor area in Húsavík probably see and hear that extensive construction is taking place on the ground floor of the Whale Museum. Recently, the company Steinsteypir ehf bought part of the ground floor of the Whale Museum and plans to develop tourism-related activities there. Soon after construction began on the ground floor, it became clear that many of the load-bearing walls in the building where KÞ's and later Norðlenska's cold storage rooms were in poor condition. In recent weeks, the owners of the building, the Whale Museum and Steinsteypir, have been working together with builders to strengthen the structure of the building with the necessary concrete reinforcements. This work on the structure of the building is now well advanced, and the lifespan of the building as a whole will hopefully be extended as a result and maintenance will be reduced in the coming years. When the structural strengthening work is completed in the next few days, Steinsteypir can continue with its planned tourism-related development, which will both breathe life into the Whale Museum's building and increase services in the harbor area.
Demolition of two annexes
Along with these projects, the Whale Museum has agreed with Steinsteypi on the demolition of two annexes to the north (freezer room and freezer press house) and the rough leveling of that site. When these two extensions are gone, there will be a large building right that the Whale Museum has for possible expansion in the future.
Cellar taken through
In addition to the construction on the ground floor and the planned demolition, construction work was recently completed in the Whale Museum's basement under the museum's lobby. The museum's storerooms were housed there before. A lot of water leakage in the last seasons from the outside made it necessary to change the soil, drain, pour reinforcements to the load-bearing wall and pour a new floor. Garðvík ehf undertook this work and it turned out to be both complex and extensive due to this large leak.
The sconce
In the coming seasons, when the interior construction and demolition work is completed, attention will be paid to the exterior appearance of the building. Preparations have already started and an architect has been hired to work on ideas for the appearance of the building. Finally, preparations have also begun for the development of "Skansin" - which is the area between the Whale Museum and Langaneshús, which now houses the Þingeyinga Knowledge Network and other institutions. That development is in the hands of the owners of the area, which are in varying proportions the Whale Museum, Norðurþing and the owners of Langaneshús. Development of Skansin will hopefully have a positive effect on the overall image of the port area.
