The case in summary: Dombå’s church was opened in April, four years after it was damaged in a fire. At the first burials, it was discovered that the aisle was too crowded to carry coffins out. The distance between the benches is now 1.37 metres, 30 centimeters shorter than before the fire. The church council has decided to do something about the problem and plan to make the pews a little shorter. The cost of cutting the benches is estimated at NOK 62,000. Despite the problem, both the parish priest and the project manager are satisfied with how the church looks after the restoration. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAI. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. In April this year, Dombås church opened, four years after it was damaged in a fire. The church was described as functional and flexible when it was opened, but a problem arose during the first burials. The aisle was too crowded. – It’s a bit of a challenge when carrying out coffins for burials, says Elin Marit Andgard. She is the project manager for the restoration of Dombås church on behalf of the Dovre church council. Dombå’s church was set on fire and damaged in the fire in February 2020. In April this year, the church reopened after being repaired. Photo: Aleksandr Nedbaev / news Have to walk sideways Now it is so crowded between the pews that when carrying out coffins for burials, you have to walk sideways. The reason? – The benches that stood here were destroyed in the fire, so new benches were built to replace some of the old ones, but it turns out that they lasted a bit long. Parish priest in Dovre, Bente Sverdrup and project manager for the restoration of Dombå’s church on behalf of Dovre’s ecclesiastical council, Elin Marit Angard, thinks that Dombå’s church was beautiful after the restoration, but admits that the aisle was too crowded. Photo: Knut Storvik / news The distance between the benches is now 1.37 metres. It is 30 centimeters shorter than before the fire. A normal chest is 70 centimeters wide, without a handle. Then there are 67 centimeters to move around for those who have to carry the coffin out of the church. – I have no explanation as to how it could happen. Somewhat unfortunate circumstances, I think, says the project manager. Will there be a solution Parish priest in Dovre, Bente Sverdrup, says that they are in the process of solving the problem. – We received some cautious feedback from families after the first funerals. Then we understood that there is something here that we need to check more closely. Parish priest Bente Sverdrup did not notice herself that the church aisle was too crowded, but she quickly received careful feedback from relatives. – We must do something about this quickly. Because this is important to us. Here, relatives should experience that it is nice to have a funeral, she says. Photo: Knut Storvik / news They compared and checked how the church looked before, against how it looks now. – Then we saw that there is a slight difference here, she says. Nor does she have a good answer to what has happened. – Things like that can happen. Everyone here has made a formidable effort. I don’t think you can almost avoid such a human error happening, says the vicar. The church council is now looking at various solutions to solve the problem. One of the alternatives is to cut the legs. Photo: Dovre church council The church council has decided that they must do something right away. They have been in contact with the National Archives and have been told to send a formal application to the bishop. They are looking at different options to solve the problem. One of them can be to cut the legs so that they are shorter. If they are to do that, it will cost them NOK 62,000, according to GD. – Funerals are something we take very seriously, especially what the next of kin say. So here it is a quick process to get the case resolved. – This is important to us. Here, the relatives should experience that it is nice to have a funeral. It already is, and it will also be now when the last part is in place, says the vicar. Satisfied with the end result It was in February 2020 that the church at Dombås was set on fire. A man was sentenced to compulsory mental health care for the arson. The church was heavily damaged in the fire. The costs for the reconstruction were NOK 35 million. All in all, both the vicar and Andgard are satisfied with how the church looks today. – We have got a more flexible and functional church space. We have built a church for the future, says Andgard. Here you can see and read more about what the church looks like after being repaired: Published 26.11.2024, at 11.01
ttn-69
Must go sideways with the coffin – news Innlandet – Local news, TV and radio
