From Iceland — The Angró House To Be Moved To A New Location

The Angró House To Be Moved To A New Location

Published September 27, 2022

Photo by
Vísir / Arnar

The historic house Angró in Seyðisfjörður will be built in a new location after it collapsed during the storm last weekend, reports Vísir.

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Múlaþing is currently working in cooperation with the Heritage Foundation to prepare to move the building to a new location.

Austurfrétt reports that a decision has already been made to move the building to a new location, but Björn Ingimarsson, Múlaþing’s county manager and owner of the building, says in an interview with the media that the weekend’s events only speed up that process more than anything else.

The house survived the landslides on Seyðisfjörður in 2020, but the supporting structure is believed to have collapsed over the weekend, so it was probably in a worse condition than originally thought after the landslides.

The building is set to be removed as soon as possible. Only a part of it will be used in the reconstruction. Pétur H. Ármannsson, director of the Minjastofnun, says that the building will be taken down, but the entire material will be placed in containers and stored until the building is rebuilt. It is necessary to act quickly, as damage can occur in the meantime.

The house was built in 1880 by Ottó Wathne, who is often called the father of Seyðisfjörður. In the past, it was used for herring processing, a shop and an apartment. Until the landslides of 2020, the house served as a storage and exhibition building for the Technical Heritage Museum of the East, which was emptied after the 2020 landslides.

The weather continues to be bad in the North East. With a red weather warning in effect in Austfjörður on Saturday and an orange warning yesterday, it is clear that a lot of damage has been done.

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