After a good 2 years of construction, the new city center was officially opened with the completion of the first construction phase in July 2021. Not everything is quite finished yet, but a number of shops and restaurants are already open, even if there are still various construction sites at the moment have to walk around. The planned parking garage does not yet exist either. But it will happen!
A total of 35 historical buildings on the site here, which were either destroyed by fire or otherwise dilapidated, are to be reconstructed as part of a new city and cultural center. The buildings come from Selfoss and Reykjavík, but also from other corners of Iceland. As part of the first construction phase, 13 residential and commercial buildings with an area of around 5,000 m² have been completed. When all 35 buildings are finished, the area should be around 30,000 m².
The new city center will be aimed primarily at local residents and Icelandic tourists. Without the ubiquitous plush puffins etc. You can't get away with it here either, but it's still very manageable. In the small bookstore, for example, I almost only found books in Icelandic and also a shelf full of stationery.
In addition to restaurants and bars, I have seen a flower shop, a shop with household and decorative items (oh yes, I love Christmas decorations, even in summer!),...
...also an art gallery, a "Flying Tiger"... and other shops, for example with clothing, Icelandic handicrafts, but also an ice cream shop, etc., will be opening soon.
The center is the old "Mjólkurbú Flóamanna".
It is said that Jón Þorláksson (1877 - 1935), who was also Prime Minister of Iceland in 1926/27, was the driving force behind the establishment of a dairy farm in Selfoss. At the end of 1927, 52 farmers from the area between Ölfusá and Þjórsa (with a total of 334 cows) joined together to form the dairy as part of a kind of cooperative.
The original building of the "
Mjólkurbú", i.e. the "dairy farm", was built by the Icelandic architect Guðjón Samúelsson (1887 - 1950), who from 1920 as "húsameistari ríksins" (state architect) designed many of Iceland's most famous buildings, including the Hotel Borg in Reykjavík, the National Theater, the old pharmacy in Austurstræti, where the Apótek restaurant is now located, the swimming pool in Barónsstígur, but also the church of Akureyri and probably the most famous church in Iceland, the Hallgrímskirja in Reykjavík. But he also designed, for example, the dairy in Hveragerði (
Skyrgerðin) or the Héraðsskólinn, i.e. the former school in
Laugarvatn.
A young Danish dairy scientist took over the construction and management of the dairy and the company began operations in December 1929. On the first day, 1,284 liters of milk from the surrounding farms were processed. In the first year, production was 1.2 million liters. The company later processed over 40 million liters of milk per year as an industrial dairy.
Due to the expansion of the company, the old "Mjólkurbú" soon became too small and was demolished after just 25 years; the new building by Skarphéðinn Jóhannesson was inaugurated in 1955.
Mathöll - Food Hall in the old dairy
The reconstructed "Mjólkurbú" from 1929 now houses a Mathöll , i.e. a "food hall".
There are various restaurants on the ground floor, from pizza to burgers, a Chinese snack bar, a bar, etc., and you can get your food and then sit and eat together at the large table in the hall or outside on the square.
There is an “Ísey Skyr Bar” in the basement, where you can find various Skyr bowls with fresh fruit and other toppings.
However, the museum in the basement about the history of the "Mjólkurbú Flóamanna" and the production of skyr is not quite finished yet.
The upper floor of Mathöll is also not yet open.
The prices in restaurants are of course decent, like everywhere else in Iceland:
For example, a large burger with fries here in Mathöll costs the equivalent of just under €20, a "children's burger" costs almost €7.40, a taco costs €11.40 or a glass of Einstök beer costs a good €7 and a soft drink costs around €2. 40 € (as of July 2021).
But all in all, things are looking very promising here so far!
More historical replicas
On the replicas of the old houses from all over Iceland, the originals of which were built between 1750 and 1930, there are always information boards for the interested visitor that tell the history of the respective house - in great detail and with many details in Icelandic and then, briefly in summarized in one sentence, also in English.
Buildings that have been recreated here in Selfoss include, for example, the old butter house ( Smjörhúsið ), the large yellow building in the background. The original house was a residential and commercial building that was built in 1797 by a merchant in Reykjavík and which, from 1909, housed the Icelandic branch of a Danish retail chain ("smjörhúsið"), which gave the house its name. The house on Hafnarstræti in Reykjavík was demolished in 1977. (The small house next to it with the striking frieze at the top is modeled on an old Reykavík pharmacy from 1881, which was demolished in 1960.)
The small house here with the beautiful decorations above the windows and the door is modeled on the so-called
Konungshús - the "royal house" was built in 1907 for the visit of the Danish King Frederick VIII (1843 - 1912) to Þingvellir. It was later used as the summer residence of the Icelandic government. When the old wooden house burned down on July 10, 1970, the then Icelandic Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson, his wife and their 2-year-old grandson were killed in the fire.
The house here in the background with the turret and battlements is a replica of the Edinborgarhús that stood at Hafnarstræti 10 - 12 in Reykjavík. Built by the merchant and British consul Ásgeir Sigurðsson in 1895 on the site of an old wooden house, the house took its name from the shop that was located in the house at the time: Edinborg. The original building was rebuilt several times over time and was finally completely destroyed in the Great Fire of Reykjavík in April 1915.
The building here, where you can now buy Christmas decorations in the "Mistlezweig", was modeled on the old plans of the " Fjalakötturinn ". This house was originally built in 1751 on Aðalstræti in Reykjavík. From 1906 onwards, the "Bretterkatze" housed the first cinema in Iceland, and later the University of Iceland ran its film club in the building from 1975 until the 1980s. The old house in Reykjavík was demolished in 1983 despite protests.
The large green house, which houses an art gallery and the beautiful flower shop, was built according to the plans of the old Gullfosshús in Akureyri. This house was built in 1905 by two master carpenters and shortly afterwards purchased by a German merchant who opened his fifth branch in Iceland there. In mid-1927, Rannveig Bjarnadóttir bought the house and opened the Hótel Gullfoss, with more than 20 guest rooms and a dining room for 100 people. The hotel became the center of Akureyri's social life. It burned down on the night of March 14, 1945. Almost nothing of the facility could be saved, but all 40 people who were inside were able to escape to safety, many of them wearing only their nightclothes. Rannveig himself died in Akureyri hospital in 1956 at the age of 77 after a very busy life.
The house here with the pretty turret is a replica of the Hótel Björninn from Hafnarfjörður.
The house was built in 1906 by a married couple; the porch with the turret was the trademark of the house at the time. The family lived on the upper floor and the shop was on the ground floor. At that time the house was called Flygenringshús after the first owner, Ágúst Flygenring. Here I found an old newspaper online, Dagblaðið from December 5th, 1978, with a picture of what the house originally looked like:
In 1930 the house was sold and the Hótel Björninn was opened in the building. During the war, the hotel was particularly popular with British and then American soldiers. The hotel operations ended in 1950. Various shops were set up on the ground floor and offices on the upper floor. The porch with the turret was demolished. The house most recently belonged to Kauffélag Hafnarfjarðar, the local cooperative. The photo here is from around 1960, I almost wouldn't have recognized the house without the beautiful turret.
To widen the road from Hafnarfjörður to Reykjavík, the eastern third of the house was demolished in 1966, the rest was then demolished and the house was finally demolished in the fall of 1970.
Still a lot of construction sites
In many corners they are not quite finished yet; here, for example, the railing on the staircase or ramp is still improvised from wooden slats.
And on the construction site here they are still laying the pipes for the “underfloor heating”. Next winter is definitely coming...
All in all, I think the "new town center" here in Selfoss is really nice - I'll definitely be out and about in the new pedestrian zone often and also try out the Mathöll!
Kale salad with pine nuts
