Norway’s new National Museum, still under construction on Oslo’s western waterfront won’t open next year after all. Delays in delivery of some critical “technical equipment” have forced museum officials to postpone the opening until some time during the spring of 2021.
They’ve already been under criticism for closing the National Gallery portion of the museum last winter, more than 18 months before the new museum was supposed to open. Officials cited security concerns in storing and moving its collection of irreplaceable paintings and other art.
Now they’re blaming delays in the delivery of equipment including necessary security doors for the new museum. That’s postponed the opening by six months.
“We want to be sure these deliveries are in place and that they be tested, so that we have stable operations before we open,” the communications director for state real estate agency Statsbygg told news bureau NTB Monday morning.
The new National Museum will combine the collections of Norway’s National Gallery, the Applied Arts Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Architecture Museum in one large location at Vestbanen, adjacent to Oslo’s City Hall Plaza. The new museum, which has already been shown off to the public, during the construction phase, is budgeted to cost NOK 5.3 billion and will cover 54,600 square meters with exhibition area of 13,000 square meters.
newsinenglish.no staff
