I 2002 har Dickens holdt dørene åpne i 30
år. Den som roter i korrespondansen med Halden Kommune
fra 1971 og 1972 vil finne ut at det slett ikke var noen
enkel sak å få startet restaurant i de gamle
kjellerlokalene i Storgata 9. Tvert i mot. For den som kom
ned i det underjordiske den gang må det ha sett helt
håpløst ut.
Så skrev også Statens Arbeidstilsyn en sterk
fraråding i et brev fra 12. april 1972: "Golvnivået
ligger meget lavt i forhold til vannstanden i elven. Det
blir ikke mulig å få tilfredsstillende vinduer,
og det er så fuktig at det måtte settes innervegger
og golv med ventilasjon imellom. En vil ikke anbefale at
det gis tillatelse til dette"
Denne sterke melding (på ikke særlig godt norsk)
var imidlertid ikke nok til å skremme den kreative
restaurantentrepenør, Arve Larsen i Pubdrift A/S.
Han visste hvordan Dickens kunne bli og han hadde løst
vanskelige problemer før. Etterhvert klarte han også
å overbevise de besluttende organer (og dem er det
mange av) om at det kunne bli et serveringssted av kjelleren.
14. desember 1972 åpnet Dickens, og ble tatt godt
i mot.
Arne Grue hadde fått serverings- og skjenkebevilling
allerede i februar og mars 72, og sto nå i spissen
for den lille, entusiastiske startgruppen. Nå, 30
år senere, står Arne Grue, sammen med Bent Ahlsen,
fortsatt i spissen for en entusiastisk gruppe av Dickensmedarbeidere,
og kan trygt slå fast at pessimistene på begynnelsen
av søttitallet tok feil, og at Dickens lot seg gjennomføre
etter planene. De kan glede seg over at Dickens i dag er
en instutisjon i Halden, som mange setter stor pris på.
DICKENS 30 YEARS IN HALDEN
In 2002 Dickens`s doors have ben open for 30 years. Those
who look into the correspondense with Halden Town Council
from 1971, and 1972 will realise that it was no easy matter
to start a restaurant in the old basement precincts in 9
Storgata. On the contrary, to those who came down into the
subterranean at that time it must have looked rather hopeless.
Also the Directorate of Labour Inspection wrote a strong
advice against the project in a letter of April 12th 1972:
“The level of floor is very low compared to the suface
of the neighbouring river. It will not be possible to install
satisfactory windows, and it is so damp that there have
to be inner walls and floor with insulation. It is not recommended
that permission for this is given.”
This strong message was, however, not enough to frighten
the innovative restaurant developer Arve Larsen in Pubdrift
Ltd. He understood what Dickens could become, and he had
solved difficult problems before. By and by he also managed
to convince the decising organs ( and they are many ) that
the basement could be made into a retaurant, and December
14th Dickens opened and was well received.
Arne Grue had achieved permission for service and selling
alcoholic drinks as early as February and March 1972 and
now headed the small but enthusiastic start group. Now,
30 years later, Arne Grue and Bent Ahlsen still head an
enrhusiastic group of Dickens co-operators, and it is easy
to say that the pessimists in the early seventies were wrong,
and that Dickens could be carried through according to plans.
The two leades can enjoy the fact that today Dickens is
an institution in Halden that many people appreciate.
We will also use this opportunity to thank all the people
who have been faithful guests through the years, and not
least the recent arrivals. We actually belive that there
are not many within our field with such a manifold group
of guests as we have. It is you who have made Dickens into
what it is today. THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
We wish you all a pleasant time with us.
With kind regards from the Dickens staff.
|
