Almost 20 years of work for a sports hall did not yield a result until 1968. Since then, the Skive halls have grown and become KulturCenter Limfjord – most recently KulturCenter Skive KCS – with halls, gym, water park and cinemas.
Desire for a hall since 1949
As early as 1949, after the merger of Skive Idrætsklub (SIK) and Arbejdernes Idrætsforening (AI) into Skive Idræts Forbund (SIF), there was a desire for a sports hall in the city. The hall would be used for large events, sports competitions and exhibitions, as well as for meetings and congresses that could not previously be held in Skive. And the hall’s economy had to be good enough for sports clubs and other associations to be able to afford to use it.
SIF started with a 3-day city party and later Salling Gymnastics Association and Salling and Fjends Herreders Youth Associations joined in. Summer parties were organized and collected every year. The total profit from the summer parties from 1950 to 1958 was DKK 48,091 plus interest earned – and at the same time, the price of a hall had multiplied several times over. It was clear that you couldn’t party your way to a hall.
New start 1960
In 1960, Peder Jepsen, editor of Skive Ventreblad, was chairman of Skive Idrætsforbund – SIK. During his presidency, SIK managed to raise 75,000 DKK through parties and raffles, and a hall committee started planning the hall. The plan included a 2000 m2 hall that could be used for training and exhibitions. In 1961, the city council stepped in and granted 100,000 to a fund for hall construction. It was estimated that 4 times that amount was needed.
In connection with Peder Jepsen’s death, the work came to a standstill.
Overtaken by the neighbors and a new start for the 3rd time
In 1963, the new chairman of the Skive Business Council Poul Hjalmar Sørensen (Schades Paper Factory) got involved. At the same time, the board of the Children’s Aid Society promised that future profits would go towards an outdoor swimming pool.
The fact that in the summer of 1963 an outdoor swimming pool was inaugurated in Nr. Søby and that in the summer of 1963 Salling Gymnastics Association presented a plan for a hall in Salling was not the least incentive to finally get something done about the plans!
17.in October 1963, SIK and Skive Business Council convened a meeting and agreed to form a limited company that would be responsible for operations and construction and have non-profit and cultural purposes. The required private capital had to be DKK 500,000. The city council agreed to double the initial capital and also make a 17-hectare plot of land at Sdr. Boulevard / Skyttevej available interest-free and installment-free.
The hall committee now started collecting money in the form of private contributions, profits from Children’s Aid Days and a Skive Week, amounts collected from associations and share subscriptions. SIK promised to provide 251 volunteers who would provide construction help. The result was monitored on “barometers” in the square in Skive and Egeris. In March 1965, a household collection was carried out and the amount finally reached DKK 570,000.
Founding general meeting Skive Idrætshal og Friluftsbad
18. in May 1965, the founding general meeting of Aktieselskabet Skive-Hallen was held. Skive Idrætshal og Friluftsbad. The shares were divided into A shares for the private shareholders, who elected 4 board members, and B shares for the municipality, which appointed 3 board members. Poul Hjalmar Sørensen was elected chairman and Bjarne Nielsen became CEO without salary.
Once again, Skive had to suffer the torture of being overtaken by its neighbors. On 20 November 1966, the Salling Hall – the first in the area – was inaugurated in Roslev.
It wasn’t until August 29, 1967 that the results of the efforts could be seen, when the open-air pool opened with a 50 m pool and the swimming club could hold the Jutland Youth Championships in swimming and the Danish Championships 50 m free swimming and salvage the same year.
Then work began on the hall – which became Hall A – designed by architect Erling Vind, which, due to the economy, was smaller than anticipated with minimum dimensions for a handball court, 5 badminton courts and baths shared with the outdoor pool. 16. in June 1968, the entire facility was inaugurated, but it was already too small at the time of the inauguration. It quickly became a problem for the sports clubs that training had to be canceled due to the hall being used for exhibitions, concerts or other sports events.
It soon became a problem that the swimming pool could only be used during the summer months. This was solved in 1971 with a bubble cover that was removed in the summer so that the swimming pool was once again an open-air pool. The system worked – though not without cost and inconvenience – until Skive Badeland opened in 1990.
Hall B 1981
In 1979, a large majority of the city council decided to put a new hall on Skive Municipality’s budget for 1980. It was not without discussion when a project costing DKK 15 million was approved in 1980.
20. in September 1981, the hall with a large foyer, cafeteria 1500 spectator seats and courts for ball games or gymnastics was inaugurated. The following week, the first musical event took place with city kid Preben Kristensen and Linje 3. The new director of the halls, Gunnar Simonsen, named the facility “Northwest Jutland’s largest concert hall”.
Skive Badeland 1990
When the swimming pool was facing extensive renovations in 1987, the board came up with plans to create a “tropical water park” for between DKK 6 and 10 million, to be financed by credit union loans. By the time it was finally approved by the city council in October 1989, the price had risen to DKK 24 million. There was great enthusiasm and willingness to cover any major deficits, despite concerns about possible losses.
12. august 1990 Skive Badeland opened with a Mediterranean climate and 58 m water slide, 50 m swimming pool, pool with play animals, wave pool, therapy pool, children’s and baby pool, spa pool, sauna, sun and fitness center and family bistro.
Guests flocked to the waterpark, but the operating costs of the waterpark and the halls were high, and in 1991 the city council had to give an extraordinary grant of DKK 1.5 million. A failed investment in Skive Sports College and declining attendance at the gym and events necessitated a doubling of the municipal subsidy to DKK 6 million. In 1993, the city council took over the halls’ debt at a time when the limited company had lost equity.
With 224,000 visitors annually, Skive Badeland became the largest attraction in Viborg and Ringkøbing counties, ahead of Hjerl Hede and Jesperhus Blomsterpark on Mors.
Several expansions in the 90s
During the 1990s, Skive-Hallerne was expanded several times so that the function and meeting rooms could accommodate more large and small parties, meetings, courses or conferences at the same time.
In 2000, the Guild Room, which from 1933 until the early 1990s had been located in“Den ny Borger- og Håndværkerforening” in Frederiksgade 8, was moved to Skive-Hallerne. The decoration and furnishings of the guild room were an example of good local craftsmanship, carried out by the master associations themselves. The guild room had been in storage since Salling Bank took over the premises at Frederiksgade 8. As part of an expansion of the meeting rooms, Skive Halls made room for the Guild Room to be rebuilt there and used by the master associations for meetings or in connection with other events in the halls.
Cultural center plans in the 00s
In the 2000s, thoughts sprouted about expanding the area into a cultural center, which could accommodate not only sports halls, exercise facilities and a trade fair center, but also e.g. museums, music school, girls’ guards. An attempt to create a cultural center at Resenlund had just failed. The idea aroused great debate and opposition, and none of the cultural institutions wanted to move to the Skive halls. During the same period, there were discussions about where a modern Skive cinema should be located. The remaining city center cinema was becoming outdated.
As part of the realization of the cultural center plans, Skive-hallerne A/S changed its name to Kulturcenter Limfjord A/S.
In 2003, “Atlantis Motion” was built. It was an 800 square meter integrated extension with a fitness center, spinning room and 2 aerobics rooms. The new gym was financed by the Spar Vest Foundation.
The cultural center plans were now reformulated to include a modern cinema.
Cinema3 2006
12. october 2006 saw the opening of a 4,800 square meter extension with 3 cinema halls and a concert hall with seating for 1,200, restaurant, café, kiosk, ticket sales and new premises for the administration.
Bankruptcy and turmoil 2009
But in 2009, things went wrong for the cultural center, which over the years had been founded in first one, then several limited companies. They went bankrupt.
This prompted the owners of the buildings, Skive Municipality and Spar Vest Fonden, to establish a commercial foundation – Den Erhvervsdrivende Fond KulturCenter Limfjord – which would not only raise the cultural center after the fall but also ensure its future operation.
In 2011, the board had to dismiss and report the previous director to the police. He was later convicted – along with one of the two leaseholders – in a criminal case at the court in Viborg.
More recent years
2013 Renovation of Skive Badeland with a new exciting water slide lift, hot water pool, new children’s pool with a pirate ship, new larger hot tub and new water treatment plant.
2017 Skive United Handball Clubs had long wanted more hall hours. Hall C was built with offices and club rooms for SfH.
2019 New modern comfortable cinema chairs.
2020 Name change to KulturCenter Skive. KCS leaseholder of Skive Theater – the agreement runs until the end of 2025.
2021 opened a new hall with room for 60 guests for Artcinema.
Sources
- History of Skive municipality from 1940 – 2003, Skive Museums Forlag 2003 p. 184 – 187 and p. 466 – 469
- Kulturcenter Skive “50 years anniversary” – Anniversary publication by KulturCenter Skive – Issuu
- Kulturcenter Skive’s website