Gjøvik Olympic Cavern Hall
| Fjellhallen | |
Surface entrance to the Olympic Cavern Hall
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| Location | Gjøvik, Norway |
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| Coordinates | 60°47′35″N 10°41′05″E / 60.793078°N 10.684844°ECoordinates: 60°47′35″N 10°41′05″E / 60.793078°N 10.684844°E |
| Owner | Gjøvik Municipality |
| Capacity | 5,500 |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | 1 April 1991 |
| Opened | 6 May 1993 |
| Construction cost | 134.6 million kr |
| Architect | Moe–Levorsen |
| Structural engineer | Fortifikasjon |
| Tenants | |
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Gjøvik Hockey (1993–) 1994 Winter Olympics 1995 World Short Track Speed Skating Championships 1999 World Women's Handball Championship 2016 Winter Youth Olympics |
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Gjøvik Olympic Cavern Hall (Norwegian: Gjøvik Olympiske Fjellhall or Fjellhallen) is an ice hockey rink located within a mountain hall in Gjøvik, Norway. With a capacity for 5,500 spectators, the hall also features a 25-meter swimming pool and telecommunications installations. Opened in 1993 and costing 134.6 million Norwegian krone (NOK), it was built for the 1994 Winter Olympics, where it hosted 16 ice hockey matches. It is the home of Gjøvik Hockey, has hosted the 1995 World Short Track Speed Skating Championships and is also used as an event venue. The structure is the world's largest cavern hall for public use.
Because half the country's surface consists of exposed rock, Norway has a tradition of building mountain cavern halls for many purposes, from tunnels via power plants to sport centers. These often double up as bomb shelters. Gjøvik Municipality opened Norway's first underground swimming pool in 1974. The idea to build an underground ice rink came from Consulting Engineer Jan A. Rygh while having dinner with Municipal Engineer Helge Simenstad in 1988, after the latter said that Gjøvik had been awarded an ice rink for the Olympics. The first drafts were made on a napkin in the restaurant. An alternative proposal for a conventional rink was also made. Among the advantage of a cavern hall was that it would not take up valuable downtown property space or interfere with the town's cityscape, yet it would be centrally located which would reduce travel costs, and there would be a stable year-round natural temperature which would reduce cooling costs.
A budget was prepared by the Lillehammer Olympic Organizing Committee (LOOC) in December 1989, and in April 1990, the Parliament of Norway passed a grant. In October, LOOC and Gjøvik Municipality made an agreement to share the ownership of the venue. The municipal council took the decision to build underground on 24 January 1991 and the main planning was contracted to Fortifikasjon. Main architects were Moe–Levorsen. A research group was created, which had four main tasks: ventilation, energy, fire and safety; the environment; rock mechanism and geology; and laws and regulations. The group also made marketing information to promote Norwegian underground technology internationally. In preparation for construction, drilling samples were taken and sent to SINTEF and the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute for testing. The rock is 800 to 1,100 million year-old gneiss which is well suited for creating caverns. Computer models were created, and estimates were based on the Q-method.
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