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A lot of lights: Svalbardbutikken proposes redesigned parking area with LED markers for car, taxi and bus spaces

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Svalbardbutikken has no problem with an eye-catching distraction in front of its store. They’re just prefer it not be a competing supermarket.

benches
A cluster of benches on the pedestrian walkway in front of Svalbardbutikken is part of the store’s proposed redesign of the parking lot in the retail center. Illustration by Kristjan Breidfjord Lanskapsarkitekter & Lo:Le Landskap.

Instead Coop Svalbard and other local business officials are proposing a modernized parking lot with LED markings that can change color, with designated areas for taxis and busses, and a large bench seating area along the pedestrian walkway directly in front of the store. The design is in response to a proposal to built a Rema 1000 in a two- to three-story building adjacent to Lompensenteret, which would take a part of the existing parking lot directly in front of Svalbardbutikken’s entrance.

“Svalbardbutikken is not going to oppose the establishment of Rema in Longyearbyen, but we don’t want it to be built as a large building in the parking lot,” a post on the supermarket’s Facebook stated Saturday. “Of course, that has an effect of Svalbardbutikken, but we also believe that there should be room for for parking spaces, taxis, bus parking and snow deposits.”

The post also notes a long-term revamp of the center of town with an emphasis on making it more attractive for shopping, recreational and cultural activities is underway, and the proposed lot with its seating area would be in character with that approach.

“It would be a shame if you block the center and ‘turn your back’ against Elvesletta and the rest of the city,” the Facebook post stated.

daylot
Svalbardbutikken’s proposed redesign of the parking lot in front of the store includes designated areas for taxis and busses at locations where they currently are often clustered. Illustration by Kristjan Breidfjord Lanskapsarkitekter & Lo:Le Landskap.

The proposed lot, designed with the assistance of Kristjan Breidfjord’s Lo:Lee landscape architect company, is “in a very early” phase and the Facebook post sought input from locals in the comments section. Most of the responses were positive, although some questioned the practicality of the LED lighting (nothing they might be obscured by snow during the dark season when they’d be used), and there were a few inquires unlikely to arise in many parking lot discussions elsewhere.

“There have been a lot of discussions about ‘dog parking’ in the city center,” wrote Wolfgang Zach, a local woodworker. “Could this be the time to consider it in such a plan? Everything from some dedicated hooks in a corner that is not used so frequently to fancy cages have been suggested previously.”

Proposals for the redesigned lot are being evaluated by the Longyearbyen Community Council. Members of the city’s Technical Committee last February unanimously rejected Rema 1000’s original proposal to use the parking lot for store space, adding the company or other parties would need to submit a detailed plan for the affected area. Rema 1000’s current proposal asserts there would be room for 40 to 45 cars, with up to 70 possible in theory.

A few commenters on Svalbardbuttiken’s Facebook discussion proposed nearby alternative sites for a Rema 1000 store, including the vacant space between Svalbardbutikken and Svalbar,  Elvesletta across the street, the Sjøområde industrial area near the shoreline, and the Skjæringa hillside where facility’s The Governor of Svalbard’s administrative building is located.

“It’s not wrong to make the town center bigger and there Rema can help,” wrote Sissel Fagerdal Lian, a local dogsledding operator who suggested the latter three locations.

 

About Post Author

Mark Sabbatini

I'm a professional transient living on a tiny Norwegian island next door to the North Pole, where once a week (or thereabouts) I pollute our extreme and pristine environment with paper fishwrappers decorated with seemingly random letters that would cause a thousand monkeys with a thousand typewriters to die of humiliation. Such is the wisdom one acquires after more than 25 years in the world's second-least-respected occupation, much of it roaming the seven continents in search of jazz, unrecognizable street food and escorts I f****d with by insisting they give me the platonic tours of their cities promised in their ads. But it turns out this tiny group of islands known as Svalbard is my True Love and, generous contributions from you willing, I'll keep littering until they dig my body out when my climate-change-deformed apartment collapses or they exile my penniless ass because I'm not even worthy of washing your dirty dishes.
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