The qajaq chairwoman

The permanent exhibition, Sermeq pillugu Oqaluttuaq – The Story of Ice, which features both a cinema and art installations, was installed, and in July 2021 the Icefjord Centre was ready to welcome its first visitors. According to the original plan, the Icefjord Centre was to be opened by Her Majesty Queen Margrethe. However, Covid restrictions and the closure of Greenland’s borders made that impossible. Instead, the townspeople were invited for kaffemik, a traditional Greenlandic gathering with coffee and a selection of cakes. Mads Nørgaard was also present at the opening. To him, the event marked the completion of a project he looks back at with great professional pride, both as a project manager and as a builder. ‘When you’re inside the building, you don’t really notice what a huge accomplishment it is. It has been an incredible journey. First, to stand inside the holes drilled into the rock surface, removing building waste while also keeping track of this huge project. Then to see it take shape, first the major elements – the steel construction, the glazed facades and the roof structure – and then the finishing of all the exceptional materials that were used in the project. And then, of course, to complete the project on time. That was only possible due to the skills and talent of everyone involved,’ says Mads Nørgaard, adding: ‘To many of us, being involved in creating something as spectacular as the Icefjord Centre has been an absolutely unique experience, and to me it is definitely a memory for life.’ Frants Frandsen of Realdania By & Byg also looks back at the construction of the Icefjord Centre with fond memories. Despite the challenges along the way, he misses the construction period. ‘I was not present all the time, but every time I went up there from Denmark – about once every six weeks – I was excited to go. Greenland and Ilulissat have got into my blood, and I miss it like crazy,’ he says.