Hersbyhallen

Hersbyhallen in Lidingö does not shout from the rooftops. It is a workaday hall, tucked into the Hersby district. The building rose in 1980, replacing a Tennis Hall that burned down in the autumn of 1977; the municipality built this instead. It sits on the campus of Hersby gymnasium, bordered by Läroverksvägen, Hersbyvägen, Åkervägen, and Vasavägen.

Inside, the dimensions vary depending on who is measuring: one source says 42 by 22 meters, another 32 by 12, but the result is the same—a large room that can be split in two by a curtain if the evening’s schedule requires it. The ceiling sits seven meters up. The floor is wood, as you would expect in a Swedish school hall.

It hosts basketball, volleyball, handball, and gymnastics, but also badminton clubs like IFK Lidingö BTK and karate groups.

There is nothing dramatic about Hersbyhallen. It simply exists, day after day, for the people of Lidingö who want to play a game or take a class. The fire that destroyed its predecessor is remembered only in passing; the new hall was built quickly, and it has served since. That is enough.