The construction machinery sat quietly outside the Ingeniør G. Paulsen building all day, but at 11 p.m. Wednesday those living near the sports and tourism center got an Earth (and ear) shattering wake-up call.
“What the bloody hell is happening at Hurtigruten??” somebody immediately asked on a local Facebook community page as another posted a short video of the ruckus taking place in the dark. According to Svalbardposten, The Governor of Svalbard received the first of numerous calls two minutes later and police were quickly sent to the scene where they found workers doing reconstruction work on the building’s foundation.
The workers stopped immediately after the police arrived.
Ingeniør G. Paulsen, which focuses largely on snowmobile equipment and tours, is owned by Hurtigruten Svalbard. The company is making major upgrades to the sports center as well as hotels and other facilities.
“Sorry about this, we’re on the case and we’re going to end the work immediately,” wrote Vebjørn Andresen, Interim Destination Director at Hurtigruten Svalbard, in a Facebook message shortly after numerous other complaints were posted on the page.