Lame Dog Hut
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Lame Dog Hut ( bg, Куцото куче, Kutsoto Kuche, ) is a building in
St. Kliment Ohridski Base St. Kliment Ohridski Base ( bg, База Св. Климент Охридски, Baza Sv. Kliment Ohridski, ) is a Bulgarian Antarctic base on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands. The base, originally known as ''Sofia University Refu ...
on
Livingston Island Livingston Island (Russian name ''Smolensk'', ) is an Antarctic island in the Southern Ocean, part of the South Shetlands Archipelago, a group of Antarctic islands north of the Antarctic Peninsula. It was the first land discovered south of 60 ...
in the
South Shetland Islands The South Shetland Islands are a group of Antarctic islands with a total area of . They lie about north of the Antarctic Peninsula, and between southwest of the nearest point of the South Orkney Islands. By the Antarctic Treaty of 195 ...
, Antarctica. Presently the oldest preserved building on the island, since October 2012 the hut has been hosting the ''Livingston Island Museum'', a branch of the National Museum of History in Sofia. It was the first permanent building established by Bulgaria in Antarctica, which laid the foundations for Bulgaria's systematic scientific research in the Livingston Island area under the
Antarctic Treaty System russian: link=no, Договор об Антарктике es, link=no, Tratado Antártico , name = Antarctic Treaty System , image = Flag of the Antarctic Treaty.svgborder , image_width = 180px , caption ...
. The building is a designated Historic Site or Monument of Antarctica.


Location

The hut is located at , which is 70 m south by east of the main building of St. Kliment Ohridski base and 200 m from the coast of South Bay, at elevation 15.5 m. It stands between two branches of the melt-water Rezovski Creek, surmounted by
Pesyakov Hill Pesyakov Hill ( bg, Песяков хълм, ‘Pesyakov Halm’ \pe-sya-'kov 'h&lm\) is the ice-free hill rising to 36 m next south-southwest of the 1988 buildings of St. Kliment Ohridski Base on Bulgarian Beach, Hurd Peninsula on Livingston Is ...
and
Sinemorets Hill Sinemorets Hill (Halm Sinemorets \'h&lm si-ne-'mo-rets\) is the second most prominent (after Hesperides Hill) in the chain of hills surmounting Bulgarian Beach in eastern Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. Sinemorets ...
, and overlooking
Grand Lagoon Grand Lagoon ( bg, Голямата лагуна, Golyamata Laguna, ) is a freshwater lagoon of elevation on Bulgarian Beach, Hurd Peninsula in eastern Livingston Island, in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. Formed by Rezovski Creek and ...
.


The structure

The Lame Dog Hut is a Bulgarian-made 6 by 3.5 m
sandwich panel A sandwich panel is any structure made of three layers: a low-density core ( PIR, mineral wool, XPS), and a thin skin-layer bonded to each side. Sandwich panels are used in applications where a combination of high structural rigidity and low ...
structure (metal face sheets,
polyurethane foam Polyurethane products have many uses. Over three quarters of the global consumption of polyurethane products is in the form of foams, with flexible and rigid types being roughly equal in market size. In both cases, the foam is usually behind othe ...
core) with a mess area and accommodation capacity for 6 persons. It has a particular technical and architectural value in its materials, design and method of construction, namely in the ingenuity and skills demonstrated by the Bulgarian scientists and technical personnel who, by using material at hand, converted what was, basically, a standard dwelling container designed for use in the then Bulgarian
logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks or skeleton cars. Logging is the beginning of a supply chain ...
industry in
northern Russia Russian North (russian: Русский Север) is an ethnocultural region situated in the northwestern part of Russia. It spans the regions of Arkhangelsk Oblast, the Republic of Karelia, Komi Republic, Vologda Oblast and Nenets Autonomous ...
, into a cozy and hospitable Antarctic facility much favoured by people from various nations visiting or working at the Bulgarian base. The experience gained during the construction and maintenance of the Lame Dog Hut was instrumental in the subsequent expansion of the Bulgarian base.Proposal to add the Lame Dog Hut at the Bulgarian base St. Kliment Ohridski on Livingston Island to the List of Historic Sites and Monuments.
Working Paper CEP WP017. ATCM Sofia, 1–10 June 2015


The name

The name ''Lame Dog Hut'' dates to around 1999, when the hut was found bouncing in the wind with its support legs damaged during the winter. This somewhat peculiar name became established both in common usage and also in the
Bulgarian Antarctic Institute Bulgarian Antarctic Institute is the national Antarctic operator of Bulgaria, organizing annual Antarctic campaigns and maintaining the Bulgarian Antarctic base of St. Kliment Ohridski on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands. The ins ...
’s official documentation.Ivanov, L
General Geography and History of Livingston Island.
In: ''Bulgarian Antarctic Research: A Synthesis''. Eds. C. Pimpirev and N. Chipev. Sofia: St. Kliment Ohridski University Press, 2015. pp. 17-28.


History

The prefabricated hut made in
Pazardzhik Pazardzhik ( bg, Пазарджик ) is a city situated along the banks of the Maritsa river, southern Bulgaria. It is the capital of Pazardzhik Province and centre for the homonymous Pazardzhik Municipality. The Tatars founded Pazardzhik in t ...
was assembled on Livingston Island during the First Bulgarian Antarctic Expedition by the team of Zlatil Vergilov, Asen Chakarov, Stefan Kaloyanov and Nikolay Mihnevski from 26 to 28 April 1988, with the logistic support of the
Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
Research Ship ''
Mikhail Somov Mikhail Mikhailovich Somov (russian: Михаил Михайлович Сомов; , in Moscow – 30 December 1973, in Leningrad) was a Soviet oceanologist, polar explorer, Doctor of Geographical Sciences (1954). Somov graduated from the Moscow ...
'' under Captain Feliks Pesyakov. It was renovated and, together with the adjacent Russian Hut, a small storehouse, commissioned as Antarctic base St. Kliment Ohridski (often shortened by non-Bulgarians to ''Ohridski base'') on 11 December 1993. It remained the base's only dwelling facility (with tents used when additional accommodation was necessary) until a new main building was completed in 1998. Occupied during all summer seasons since 1993, the hut has proved most suitable under local conditions. It has also been used as a
radio shack RadioShack, formerly RadioShack Corporation, is an American retailer founded in 1921. At its peak in 1999, RadioShack operated over 8,000 worldwide stores named RadioShack or Tandy Electronics in the United States, Mexico, United Kingdom, Austra ...
and
post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...
(Post Office ''Antarctica 1090'' maintained by Bulgarian Posts Plc) since 1994.


Livingston Island Museum

Since October 2012 the Lame Dog Hut has been hosting a museum exhibition of associated artefacts from the early Bulgarian science and logistic operations in Antarctica, designated as ''Livingston Island Museum'' – a branch of the National Museum of History in Sofia. Certificate of the Livingston Island Museum. National Museum of History, Sofia, October 2012


Historic Site

Since June 2015 the hut has been designated a Historic Site or Monument of Antarctica ( HSM 91, effective 31 October 2015).Revised List of Antarctic Historic Sites and Monuments: Lame Dog Hut and Oversnow heavy tractor “Kharkovchanka”.
Measure 19 (2015) – ATCM XXXVIII – CEP XVIII, Sofia, 1–10 June 2015
As the oldest preserved building on Livingston Island (since 2009, when the old buildings of the nearby Spanish base
Juan Carlos I Juan Carlos I (;, * ca, Joan Carles I, * gl, Xoán Carlos I, Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias, born 5 January 1938) is a member of the Spanish royal family who reigned as King of Spain from 22 Novem ...
were removed and replaced by new ones), the hut and its associated artefacts are considered part of the cultural and historic heritage of the island and Antarctica.Bulgaria successfully completed the Chairmanship of the XXXVIII Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria website, 10 June 2015
Another Historic Site or Monument on Livingston Island is the San Telmo Cairn ( HSM 59) at
Cape Shirreff Cape Shirreff is a prominent cape at the north end of the rocky peninsula which separates Hero Bay and Barclay Bay on the north coast of Livingston Island, in the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica. The cape was named by Edward Bransfield in ...
, which commemorates the 644 officers, soldiers and seamen lost when the
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...
warship ''
San Telmo San Telmo ("Saint Pedro González Telmo") is the oldest ''barrio'' (neighborhood) of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is a well-preserved area of the Argentine metropolis and is characterized by its colonial buildings. Cafes, tango parlors and antique ...
'' sank nearby in September 1819.


See also

*
Historic Sites and Monuments in Antarctica A Historic Site or Monument (HSM) is a protected location of historic interest on the continent of Antarctica, or on its adjacent islands. The list of historic sites was first drawn up in 1972,
*
St. Kliment Ohridski Base St. Kliment Ohridski Base ( bg, База Св. Климент Охридски, Baza Sv. Kliment Ohridski, ) is a Bulgarian Antarctic base on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands. The base, originally known as ''Sofia University Refu ...
*
Livingston Island Livingston Island (Russian name ''Smolensk'', ) is an Antarctic island in the Southern Ocean, part of the South Shetlands Archipelago, a group of Antarctic islands north of the Antarctic Peninsula. It was the first land discovered south of 60 ...


Maps


Isla Livingston: Península Hurd.
Mapa topográfico de escala 1:25000. Madrid: Servicio Geográfico del Ejército, 1991. (Map reproduced on p. 16 of the linked work) * L.L. Ivanov. St. Kliment Ohridski Base, Livingston Island. Scale 1:1000 topographic map. Sofia: Antarctic Place-names Commission of Bulgaria, 1996. (The first Bulgarian Antarctic topographic map, in Bulgarian) * L.L. Ivanov et al. Antarctica: Livingston Island and Greenwich Island, South Shetland Islands (from English Strait to Morton Strait, with illustrations and ice-cover distribution). Scale 1:100000 topographic map. Sofia: Antarctic Place-names Commission of Bulgaria, 2005. * L.L. Ivanov. Antarctica: Livingston Island and Greenwich, Robert, Snow and Smith Islands. Scale 1:120000 topographic map. Troyan: Manfred Wörner Foundation, 2010. (First edition 2009. ) * Antarctica, South Shetland Islands, Livingston Island: Bulgarian Antarctic Base. Sheets 1 and 2. Scale 1:2000 topographic map. Geodesy, Cartography and Cadastre Agency, 2016. (in Bulgarian)
Antarctic Digital Database (ADD).
Scale 1:250000 topographic map of Antarctica. Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR). Since 1993, regularly upgraded and updated. * L.L. Ivanov. Antarctica: Livingston Island and Smith Island. Scale 1:100000 topographic map. Manfred Wörner Foundation, 2017.


References

{{Authority control Buildings and structures completed in 1988 Museums established in 2012 Museums in Antarctica Local museums History of Antarctica Historic buildings and structures in Antarctica Bulgaria and the Antarctic Geography of Livingston Island Outposts of Antarctica Outposts of the South Shetland Islands 1988 establishments in Antarctica