A large radio and observation tower that has been part of Oslo’s hilltop skyline for decades may finally be torn down. Known as Tryvannstårnet, the tower was once a popular tourist destination but has been closed to the public since 2004.
That’s when new regulations determined that the tower’s emergency exits and fire prevention measures were outdated and insufficient. The costs of bringing them up to new standards were too high, as visitor interest waned in the tower that was built in 1962.
Now, as Norwegian authorities move to shut down the country’s FM radio network, the tower will also no longer be needed for radio, TV and other telecommunications. Debate over its fate was flying once again on Friday.
“This is a landmark in our city,” Oslo City Council member Hallstein Bjercke told Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK). He called on the city government to secure the tower and invest what’s necessary to reopen it. Camilla Wilhelmsen of the Progress Party claims the tower has outlived its purpose and that it can’t continue to stand “as a ghost tower” forever. She also stressed that current EU and Norwegian regulations mean it can’t be used as it now stands.
newsinenglish.no staff