Hallgrímskirkja Temporarily Closed, Elevator Being Replaced

Reykjavík’s landmark church, Hallgrímskirkja, will soon have a better, faster elevator, with plans to have it ready by the end of May.

Up to a thousand people each day visit the church, MBL reports, and with the tourist high season about to kick off, church management has an eye on finishing the job quickly and well.

“Work is being done here around the clock,” Hallgrímskirkja managing director Sigríður Hjálmarsdóttir told reporters. “We want this to take the shortest amount of time possible. Both due to tourists and for us. It’s in everyone’s best interests that this goes well.”

The plan is to have the church ready to open again no later than May 28.

The new elevator promises to have a higher clearance space than the old one, and will be almost twice as fast. Hallgrímskirkja’s existing elevator rises at a rate of one metre per second; the new one will travel at 1.6 metres per second. The church itself is 74.5 metres tall.