Handball president Kåre Geir Lio is very excited about the million-dollar gift, which can realize the large-scale handball plans in Bodø. – We do have Trond Mohn in Bergen. Now we have someone in Bodø who wants to do the same. It’s great that there are such kind people out there. We should be happy about that. “It is more blessed to give than to receive,” says the Bible. And that is perhaps what the anonymous donor has in mind when Bodø handball club (BHK) is now blessed with NOK 150 million to build a brand new handball hall. Lio says that it is a big challenge across the country that there is a lack of handball halls. He has clear advice for the politicians in Bodø, who have the final say in the matter. – This project is absolutely decisive for handball in Bodø to develop further. Hemmeleg givar The hall is intended to have space for 3,000 spectators, its own VIP zone, training room, changing rooms and office. This means that the arena can be used to arrange everything from national team gatherings, stand-alone international matches, four-nation tournaments and qualification matches for the EC and WC. The Norwegian Handball Association has shown interest and promises such arrangements if the project becomes a reality. This is what a new handball hall in Bodø could look like if the project gets the thumbs up from the municipality. Photo: GNIST ARKITEKTER AS But who the donor of the money is, the handball club in Bodø will not reveal. – The donor does not want public attention around his person or how the person concerned is in a position to give a large sum. That’s according to chairman Barbro S. Erdahl in Bodø handball club (BHK). The donor also does not wish to participate in a political tug-of-war in which those concerned may be taken as income for one and the other, she adds. The chairman describes the anonymous gift as “unique and wonderful”. – The donor wishes to give the population of Bodø and Northern Norway a new, large non-commercial handball hall. This will help to take back BHK’s position at the top of Norwegian men’s handball. And at the same time create an arena where it is possible to hold major championships and tournaments. – The municipality and the population of the city cannot say no to a gift of NOK 150 million, adds Erdahl. – The politicians should be extremely flexible The donor wants the handball club in Bodø to own and run the hall. And BHK knows exactly where a new hall should be located – on a plot of land owned by the municipality. The reason why BHK wants to build the hall there is that it is close to Nordlandshallen and the Bodø spectrum. But there are several people in the area who want the plot, both the Norwegian Aviation Museum and the Triangle shopping centre. If the plot is to be given away, sold or rented out, the politicians in the city will not make advances now. Mayoral candidate and leader of the Bodø Labor Party Ann-Kristin Moldjord says there are a number of unresolved questions that must be answered before the municipality can release the attractive plot of land. – The politicians should be extremely flexible and quick to make arrangements so that the hall can be realised. If politicians can say no to this, as the economic situation is in Bodø municipality, I don’t understand anything, says handball president Lio. He adds that the plot is in an ideal location. – I cannot understand why this case can be presented as problematic. Of course, one must have financial security in the project. I have 120 percent confidence that those involved who want to give this money will do so in a way that will contribute to society for the foreseeable future, says the president of the handball association.
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– Do not understand that it is problematic – news Nordland
