ARKHANGELSK, July 10. /TASS/. Experts of the Russian Arctic National Park assessed conditions of the oldest building on the Franz Josef Land archipelago, the so-called "Eira Lodge" on the Bell Island, TASS reported from aboard the Professor Molchanov scientific research vessel of the Arctic Floating University expedition. Though the mission ashore was not long due to the weather, the expedition participants did manage to strengthen the building.
"The house is currently being conserved. Key aspects: we are currently strengthening the structure so that the walls do not collapse under a layer of snow. We have been installing special tripwires that tighten the structure. We had various fasteners on us to do this work. Plus, we have brought several plywood sheets. That's because bears are demonstrating interest in these buildings. Last year, a bear broke through one of the walls. We've fixed it up with the materials we had. Now we have made a temporary "patch" there, we have secured it well," said Ilya Timin, the Russian Arctic National Park's state environmental protection inspector.
The Eira Lodge, built in 1881, is the oldest surviving building on the Franz Josef Land Archipelago and in the entire island high-latitude Arctic. It was built by the expedition of the British yachtsman and explorer Benjamin Leigh Smith as a base for the expedition. The polar explorers planned to spend the winter there. But a few days after its construction was over, the ice crushed the expedition's schooner named Eira at Cape Flora of the Northbrook Island. People were not injured, though they did not make it to the Bell Island. They wintered in a hut made of the ship remains, and in 1882 they sailed to Novaya Zemlya by boats.
