Feste Trafikkskole has settled into its new premises
The driving school has settled into new premises. Even though they're spreading the word as best they can, not everyone has caught wind of the move. "This is the finest view in town. You should have seen the sunrise yesterday," says Øyvind Feste enthusiastically, as he looks out over Knarvik and down towards the fjord and the mountains.
Written by Feste AS
Last updated
Like coming home
In mid-January, Feste Trafikkskole moved in between the police station and the shops at Amfi Knarvik. After ten years up in the old kindergarten behind the shopping centre, they are now masters of their own house – because it's the company itself that owns the building they're now based in.
"It's absolutely fantastic, like coming home," says Feste.
It's been a lot of work
The second floor of the building, above Alver optikk, has previously housed a hairdresser, among others. Before the driving school was to move in, the plan was to renovate and rebuild the entire floor. That has taken a while.
"We'd actually hoped to have everything ready by 1 January. That was a bit ambitious. It turned out to be more work here than we thought."
The whole floor has been changed. A new kitchen and new toilets have been built. To keep costs down, they've done a fair amount of the work themselves.
"We thought it was just a matter of painting the walls and putting in a bit of kitchen. But then you have to throw out and sort the rubbish and try to keep things tidy along the way," says Beathe Andersen, describing how there have constantly been things that needed sorting out.
Painting the panelling on the ceiling was one of the things that simply devoured time. Brushes and handles were bought in.
"After two coats there were still missed patches. So we called a painter. We covered the walls and then he sprayed the ceiling with paint," they say.
Andersen works in the office. She's got new surroundings and has been in charge of how it would all look. Feste praises her as a designer.
"Look at the lamp here above the office – that's no coincidence. It's completely in keeping with the one out in the hallway," he says.
Planning an opening party
A few things remain inside, such as fitting a sliding door so the classroom section is on its own. But they've already had full courses – load securing for car with trailer, basic traffic courses and night-driving.
The premises are also used for the occasional meeting. The MC-ramnane motorcycle club in Nordhordland and NAF (the Norwegian Automobile Federation) are two of the groups that have used the driving school's premises over the years.
It's not very many steps to walk from one side of the centre to the other, but changing location brings some challenges – like getting the young people to register where you are.
"I send everyone a text message: 'heads up, new address.' But when we start the course, someone's standing up there by the kindergarten and maybe hasn't opened the message at all. And when we were due to have night-driving, I got several phone calls," says Andersen.
It'll sort itself out in time, and in time there'll probably be a few more upgrades to the building too.
"I want to have the façade at the back facing the centre done up, and eventually replace the whole roof. At least we'll have no trouble finding things to spend money on," says Feste with a laugh.
The move was so hectic that they haven't had time to nail down an opening party yet. A celebration with buns and balloons, coffee and cake will have to come a little later. That's when they'll really mark the fact that they've come "home".
