Organization
In 2002, the Association for the Promotion of Skiing and Oslo Municipality started the process of applying for the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009. The city council decided to grant NOK 52.8 million to upgrade Holmenkollen, including Holmenkollbakken, for the 2009 World Championships. Oslo lost the vote in the International Ski Federation (FIS) against Liberec, Czech Republic, on 4 June 2004. The Norwegian Ski Federation subsequently stated that they would apply for the 2011 World Championships. The Association for the Promotion of Skiing stated that they wanted a new hill in Rødkleiva instead of expanding the existing ski flying hill in Vikersund, Vikersundbakken. Holmenkollbakken would then be used for the last time during as a large hill during the 2011 World Championships, and would then converted to a normal hill. In May 2005, the general assembly of the Norwegian Ski Federation voted to build a new ski flying and normal hill in Rødkleiva ahead of the 2011 World Championships. Following Vikersundbakken being awarded the FIS Ski-Flying World Championships 2012 in 2008, the general assembly of the Norwegian Ski Federation that year decided to terminate the plans for a ski flying hill in Rødkleiva.
On 22 September 2005, FIS stated that an all-new Holmenkollbakken would have to be built if Oslo was to host the World Championships and World Cup tournaments. FIS stated that similar reconstructions had been done with Schattenbergschanze in Oberstdorf, Germany, and Bergiselschanze in Innsbrück, Austria. In December 2005, the Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage gave permission for the tower to be demolished, on the condition it was replaced by a new in-run with a similar architectural quality and retain its function as a landmark. They stated that it was the activity itself that is worthy of preservation, not the structure itself. The city council made the final decision to apply for the World Championships and build a new hill on 1 March 2006. A new hill was at the time estimated to cost NOK 310 million, and the state was willing to finance NOK 70 million of those. Oslo was awarded the 2011 World Championships in May 2006.
The municipality issued a architectural design competition to rebuild the hill; Julien De Smedt's proposal was selected among 104 entrants. At the time, it was estimated that the new national arena would cost NOK 653 million. Demolition of Holmenkollbakken started on 16 October 2008. The World Cup tournament in 2009 was held at Vikersundbakken instead of Holmenkollen because of the reconstruction. When the decision to reconstruct the national arena was made by the city council in 2007, it was estimated to cost NOK 653 million. By 2008, the cost had accelerated to NOK 1.2 billion, and by the following year it had reached NOK 1.8 billion. City Commissioner For Business and Culture, Anette Wiig Bryn of the Progress Party, had to leave her position because of the cost overruns. A consultant report ordered by the municipality concluded that the pressure to find cost savings to stay within the budget, which was underestimated to start with, resulted in slower progress, which again resulted in higher costs. The costs of the new large hill were NOK 715 million, while total costs for the upgrade of the national arena and infrastructure ended at NOK 2,426 million. This included the construction of a new ski stadium next to Holmenkollbakken, and Midtstubakken, and upgrades to the Holmenkollen Line.
Read more about this topic: FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2011
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