Sundhöll Hafnarfjarðar (Swimming hall) 80th Anniversary

At the end of August in 1943, the Hafnarfjörður swimming hall (Sundhöll Hafnarfjarðar) was opened with a great ceremony. Now on the occasion of celebrating it’s 80th anniversary, the hall will be open for all guests on Monday the 11th of September 2023, at 15:00. The construction of the swimming pool was a major revolution at the time, but before that the townspeople learned to swim in the sea. During the ceremony a new historical sign will be unveiled outside, along the coast path, where swimming was taught before the Swimming Hall opened. The lobby will display new proposals regarding alterations and improvements to the pool and historic images will adorn the walls. Stefán Ómar Jakobsson and his crew will be playing light jazz for attendees.

“The healthiest and most useful sport of all sports”

Early ideas arose for the construction of a swimming pool in the town, as they wanted to establish a pool, where the children and young people of Hafnarfjörður would have the opportunity to practice the healthiest and most useful sport of all sports, swimming”. In the following years various ideas were put forward about the location of the pool, but finally in 1939 a drawing, and cost estimate, of a swimming pool at Krosseyrarmalir was submitted, and construction began in October that same year.

1943, the inauguration of the swimming hall in Hafnarfjörður (Sundhöll Hafnarfjarðar), the roof was added later on, and is now Hafnarfjörður’s swimming hall. Large crowds on the pool banks are watching the swimming practice.

In 1949 the use of sea water in the pool was discontinued, and the coal boilers were replaced with oil heating. It was agreed to build a roof over the pool in 1951 and it was inaugurated as a swimming pool two years later. Then in 1976, the geothermal heating system was installed in the swimming hall, which completely changed its operational basis for the better. The following year, two sediment pools were installed by the hall.

See event here Sundhöll Hafnarfjarðar 80 ára – opið hús | Facebook