Lögberg-Heimskringla - 15.01.2007, Side 1

Portrait of
a pioneer
$2Single copy price:
Skák!
A new generation of Ice-
landic children is being in-
troduced to the ancient chal-
lenge of chess / pages 6, 7
PHOTO COURTESY OF LEIC
Mary Stewart of Calgary,
AB has seen many changes
since growing up in Winni-
peg, MB / pages 6, 7
Icelanders
head west
Jónas Þór plans to bring
more Icelanders to North
America through his new trav-
el company / page 2
Publication Mail Agreement No. 40012014, PAP # 8000 ISSN 0047-4967
LÖGBERG
HEIMSKRINGLA
The Icelandic Community Newspaper • 15 January 2007 • Number 2 / Númer 2 • 15. janúar 2007
INSIDE
i l
ri :
PHOTO COURTESY OF HRAFN JÖKULSSON
Visit us on the web at http://www.lh-inc.ca
REYKJAVÍK — The year
2006 was a record year for
building demolition in Reyk-
javík. Fifty-one buyildings
were torn down over the past
year; in 2005, which was also
a record year, there were 47.
“An increase in the large
number of demolitions has
been constant from the turn
of the century, but I expect
that the high point has now
been reached,” says Erpur
Snær Hansen, Health Repre-
sentative with the Reykjavík
City Environmental Health
and Protection Office, on the
organization’s website.
Among the buildings
which were torn down over
the year were Hamiðjuhúsið,
the old cod liver oil plant,
Faxaskála, the freezing plant
on Mýrargata, a bonded ware-
house and oil supply station
on Héðinsgata. An enormous
quantity of building waste
was produced in 2006 and it
is for the most part buried in a
landfill at Faxaflói harbour.
“Extensive asbestos demo-
lition, such as in the Brokey-
jar building on Austurbugt
and oil station on Héðinsgata,
should be noted,” according to
the website of the Protection
Office. “Asbestos was used
in buildings right up until
1970 in Iceland and is found
in many places. When asbes-
tos breaks, glass fibres are
stirred up, which can lodge in
the lungs after inhalation and
lead to death 30 to 40 years
later. Asbestos from demoli-
tion is buried in Álfsnes.”
Hamiðjuhúsið in Þver-
holt was torn down in the last
year.
Reprinted from Morgun-
blaðið with permission. Trans-
lated by David Jón Fuller.
Number of passengers at Leifur Eiríksson
airport expected to continue increasing
KEFLAVÍK — Passengers
at Leifur Eiríksson Airport in-
creased about 11 per cent in
2006 compared against 2005,
or from at least 1,817,000
passengers to about 2,019,000
passengers. The increase in
passengers to and from Ice-
land amounts to at least 15 per
cent; passengers on stopovers
in Iceland on their way across
the Atlantic Ocean decreased
by about seven per cent.
In news from the airport
it was announced that this is
consistent with a passenger
prediction which the British
company BAA Plc., which
operates the largest airport in
Britain, made in the beginning
of 2005. A roughly six per
cent increase is predicted for
2007 and by the year 2015 the
increase in passengers should
be well over 3 million, which
amounts to a twofold increase
each decade. Organizational
specialists at BAA look to
various factors which have
effects on economic growth
in Iceland, fares, marketing
initiatives and popularity of
Iceland as a stopover for trav-
ellers.
To accommodate this in-
crease in passengers, work is
being carried out to enlarge
the air terminal and the aim
is to finish development of the
air terminal by 14 April 2007.
Reprinted from Morgun-
blaðið with permission. Trans-
lated by David Jón Fuller.
A drawing which shows how
the air terminal building will
look after the changes.
MBL.IS / GUÐMUNDUR RÚNAR GUÐMUNDSSON
51 buildings
torn down
in Reykjavík
over the
past year
Opening some artistic doors
PHOTO: DAVID JÓN FULLER
Winnipeg artist Inga Torfadóttir recently opened the doors of her home as part of a
unique tour, and is experimenting with new media / page 10