Reopening of the city's oldest building
The protected cultural monument, the Bodø City Museum, will open its doors to the public on June 19. It is one of the city's most distinctive buildings, which in a new look and function will contribute to public education, aesthetic experiences, cultural meetings and dialogue, the dissemination of history and the exchange of opinions for many more years, and thus continue the building's already 120-year history rich in tradition.
14 men lined up on the stairs during the opening in 1904. The men are believed to be members of the museum association.
Photo taken from the church tower sometime after 1909.
The story behind the City Museum in Bodø
The building at Prinsens gate 116 was built as the Bodø Fishing Museum in 1903. It has been in use as a cultural history museum since 1936, in addition to a number of other functions.
Over the years, several plans for expansion and improvements have been presented, but until now it has been allowed to exist relatively unchanged. The functionality has not been updated, and the changes that are now in place are absolutely necessary and crucial for this important building to continue to play a role in Bodø's identity, and as a testimony to the course of history in so many ways.
The building survived the bombing of Bodø on 27 May 1940, and is the oldest official building in the centre of Bodø. Together with Bodø Cathedral, Bodø Town Hall and Rådhusplassen with the post and telegraph building, the museum building forms a central element in Bodø's official urban space. "The museum building adds depth of time and variety in form and expression to this architectural environment," states the preservation decision from the Norwegian Agency for Cultural Heritage of 15.06.2011.
Conservation and the path towards accessibility
The preservation order confirmed the building's importance, but has also led to major challenges in terms of how to meet the needs of the public and the employees' working environment. In reality, disabled people or wheelchair users have not had access to the building. The preservation order has meant that measures for improvement have had to be carefully assessed against laws and regulations. It has been a demanding process, and also led to measures that must necessarily cost something.
The main purpose of the project has been to make the building accessible to everyone. Due to the fact that the exterior is listed, the establishment of a new main entrance for the City Museum is the most visible part of the project. An extension has been created that connects the new and old parts via a new glass elevator and stairwell. The extension is placed at an oblique angle in relation to the old building to be as open as possible to visitors, and to invite them to use the new entrance. Upgrades have also been made in the oldest part, including the establishment of toilets and a cloakroom, which was lacking in the old building.
Sami art and culture in the opening year
The opening year will focus on Sami art and culture. This is a collaborative project with Sami actors, and Nordlandsmuseet is proud to be able to contribute to making this important part of our own culture and history visible.
In the future, new projects, exhibitions and communication will be developed. Creating a living, relevant and functional museum where everyone can participate is a goal and ideal for the newly opened City Museum in Bodø. The fact that the new opening coincides with Bodø 2024, and the European Capital of Culture year, is an added bonus, and we hope many people will visit the City Museum in the future.
From the exhibition Giving the right shape. Photo: Kjell Ove Storvik
From Bodø Fisheries Museum to the City Museum in Bodø
Bodø Fisheries Museum was the name given to the museum building when it was inaugurated in 1904. The museum's purpose was to provide information about fisheries, both for the general public and especially for those who worked in fisheries and related industries. The museum was established in 1888, and for the first few years was in rented premises.
The decision to start the construction project was made in 1901, and the cost was estimated at 45,000 kroner. The building was completed in the fall of 1903, but was not inaugurated until the spring of 1904. The total cost was kroner. 47,864.26. Nordland fishing company, which owned and had established the museum, had collected around kroner. 34,000 in the years from 1891 to 1903 from various sources. To finally finance the museum, a loan of kroner. 14,000 was taken out with the building as collateral.
When the building was put into use, it was not only a museum, but also premises for the Bodø Library on the first floor and the Technical Evening School on the second floor. The rental income came in handy when the loan had to be paid off.
During the bombing of Bodø on 27 May 1940, the museum was hit by two bombs, causing extensive damage to some of the inventory. During the occupation, the museum was stripped of its museum function and was used, among other things, as the headquarters of the National Collection in Bodø.
Before the war, in 1936, Bodø Fisheries Museum had handed over the operational responsibility to the Nordlandsmuseet, which was a cultural history association. The layout of the museum was therefore somewhat different from the original. In addition, another name change was made in 1950, and the museum was now called Nordland County Museum, with the ambition of communicating the entire cultural history of Nordland. Work on new exhibitions had already begun and the themes were defined as seafaring and fishing and agriculture and crafts, in addition to a small urban history department. In 1988, the name was changed back to Nordlandsmuseet.
The Bodø City Museum is part of Nordlandsmuseet, a museum organization that was founded in 2004. Nordlandsmuseet manages 20 museums in the Salten municipalities, and is a different organization than the one that ran the museum from 1936. The Bodø City Museum has been the name of the building since 2017.
A chronicle written by Morten Steffensen, former director of the Nordlandsmuseet.
