cost 2 million Norwegian krone (NOK), but construction cost NOK 4 million. The overruns were largely caused by difficult ground conditions and the hillside location, with a more conventional location estimated to have halved the construction costs. Half a million krone were also spent because the venue used a year to receive a building permit, so the bulk of construction could not start until early 1951, a year after schedule, although preliminary construction started in August 1950. Jordal contributed to more than half the total cost overruns for the 1952 Winter Olympic venues. The inaugural configuration had a capacity for 10,000 spectators. For the Olympics there were installed a time-keeping system from Longines, ten commentator and press desks with telephones and two telephone booths. A 60-kilowatt, 400 lux floodlight system was installed. The venue was inaugurated on 12 December 1951 with a hockey match between Norway and Switzerland. Jordal was the first artificial ice rink in the Nordic Countries, and at the time among the most modern hockey rinks in Europe. In the late 1950s Sonja Henie offered to pay the cost of covering the arena with a roof. This was at the time rejected by the municipality, citing concerns with the venue's architecture being spoiled. However, the lack of a roof placed any event the mercy of the weather, and it gradually became evident that a roof would have to be built. When it was installed in 1971, it was at the cost of the municipality. The stadium was then converted from standing to a seated stands, reducing capacity from 10,000 to under 5,000 spectators. It also saw the removal of the stage. This made it Norway's sixth indoor ice rink. The youth rink, built next to Jordal Amfi, opened in 1989, as the twentieth indoor ice hockey rink in the country. The same year the venue received a series of minor upgrades, followed up with a new ventilation and lighting system in 1993 and a new audio system in 1994. Oslo Spektrum opened in 1990 as was planned as the new main venue for ice hockey and handball in Oslo. However, the venue soon turned out to be too expensive for sports, and Jordal soon again became the main ice hockey venue in town. With Norway being awarded the 1999 IIFH World Championships, Oslo Spektrum and its larger capacity were initially considered as the Oslo venue, but was