The Scandinavian Centre
The Calgary Scandinavian Centre
CO-OP officially came into being on April 11, 1972 and on
April 1, 1974, - 25 years ago - the building was purchased
from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Calgary.
The building itself seemed as an apt choice, with its roof
resembling a Viking Ship. It was the culmination of a dream
of Scandinavians to have a Cultural Centre. Earlier the
various groups had met in a variety of buildings,- none of
which was suitable. It was an opportune time.
Multiculturalism was the theme of the day and ethnic centres
were sprouting up all over the city.
Eventually, representatives from the five Nordic Countries
met and formed a Cooperative under the Societies Act of
Alberta. They elected a Board of nine directors, wrote a
constitution and were on their way. The total purchase of the
building was $100,000. The Alberta Department of Culture,
Youth and Recreation under Horst Schmidt offered a grant of
$22,500 - a most welcome nest egg. The Sons of Norway
Valhalla Lodge and the Swedish Branting Lodge assisted with
$5,000 each. Then the Board negotiated a loan with the
Toronto Dominion Bank for $16,000, which, amazingly enough -
was personally guaranteed by two members of the Board. So,
with sales of shares of $50 each and other cash available
they put up $35,000 cash to mortgage - the mortgage to be
held by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Calgary, at an interest
rate of 10%, with a monthly payment of $600. That took care
of the purchase of the building - but did not cover the
overhead and other expenses.
The Board - in its wisdom set out at its first meeting a
series of committees.
The Board of Management
The Board of Publicity and Promotions
The Board of Culture and Entertainment and
The Ladies Auxiliary.
Each Member of the Board was expected to serve on one or more
of these committees. The system was very successful. It set
an example of volunteering that has exceeded every ones
expectations and it still does. The executives at the time of
the purchase of the building were:ÅPresident, Sam Austman
(Icelandic)
Vice President, Ivar Smistad (Norwegian)
Secretary, Knut Haga (Norwegian)
Treasurer, Rolf Hatvigsen (Norwegian)
Directors: Ken Carlson (Swedish)
Olaf Nordgaard (Danish)
Bill Siguardson (Icelandic)
Ed Ness (Norwegian)
5Seija Classen (Finnish)
Kai Lynge (Danish)
We are very thankfull for their hard work and their vision of
the future of "Our Culture in A New Land". In recent years,
1994 - 2004, we have made an effort to further improve our
facilities. It all started in 1994 when we sponsored a casino
which gave us a net of around $44,000. The Board at the time
decided to use the funds to renovate our building. Since
then, we have spent more then 22,000 volunteer hours on these
renovations.
Member clubs and individual members have donated more than
$50,000. We have had valuable support from the City of
Calgary and from the Province of Alberta. However - it would
not have been possible - if we had not had the support of our
dedicated volunteers. Without their enthusiasm and skills, a
project of this magnitude would never have taken place.
A special feature of the renovation of the Valhalla room is
the building of a replica of the Oseberg Ship, which was
uncovered in 1904 on a farm called Oseberg south of Oslo, the
capital of Norway. The ship was in active use sometime
between 800 and 1000 AD and was hauled ashore to be used as a
burial place and that is why it was relatively well
preserved.
The restored ship is 70 feet long and 17 feet wide and is
displayed in the Viking Ship Hall at the Bygdoe Museum in
Oslo. We have reduced it to about 26 feet long and half a
foot wide.