When Scandic Ferrum in central Kiruna closed on April 5, LKAB decided to let the hotel with 171 rooms for refugee accommodation without charging any rent.
During the summer, Kiruna municipality's integration unit has prepared hotel rooms and premises for the total of 95 refugees from Ukraine that Kiruna municipality has assigned.
How many there will be in reality remains to be seen.
It is clear that the first family will arrive at the end of the month.
Premises can be used for play
Ann-Sofie Åkerlind, head of the unit for integration and the labor market, shows what one of the rooms intended for two people looks like.
- There is not much space, but we do not hope that it will be long-term, she says.
In return, the hotel has many other premises where it is not as crowded.
In the old dance restaurant, the idea is that the children should be able to play and that the parents should be able to practice, for example, yoga.
Conference rooms are furnished to accommodate schools and preschools if needed.
"A solidly built house"
The refugees arrive at a center that is being dismantled due to the ever-increasing ground deformations from the mine.
Many houses are already emptied due to cracks.
Trade closes and moves to new centers around the same time as the first refugees arrive.
Ann-Sofie Åkerlind has at least not seen any cracks in the hotel property.
- It seems to be a solidly built house, she says.