The Southeastern part of Finland has a strong tradition in forest industry. Since the late 19th century around a dozen pulp mills and dozens of paper mills have cooked wealth to the Finnish society.
In recent decades times have been hard. Paper machine after paper machine has been shut down, in the early 2000’s and 2010’s entire factories were closed leaving thousands unemployed. They have hit the local economy hard.
In this small town there have been three pulp mills and paper factories in different eras. The first one was built in the early 20th century. It became a part of a larger facility a few decades later. In the 60’s a large factory was built just a stone throw away, and gradually, when the older machines were phased out, the facilites were closed down.
Now the new mill produces pulp and paper. The two older ones have found a variety of uses among small companies and artists. But most importantly, their gates are open. So it’s time to go exploring.
The first building in the area. Its use remained a mystery to me, but it looked to be in good shape.
The building to the left houses small companies, the one to the right artists and gallery space.
Behind the woods and pipes was the old headquarters of the company.
The first clear abandonment on the site was the old power station from the 1930’s.
The area was a bit strange. Everything apart from the power station was in a good shape, but you couldn’t quite be sure if the buildings were in use or not.
A more modern example of paper mill architecture.
The 1960’s built more modern factory was visible nearby.
A closer look at the old headquarters, which was of a beautiful functionalistic architecture.
The gates were open for good and the factory area was even accessible by car. Some roads were reserved for light traffic only.
You could easily walk around the old factory area.
Up front are the older parts of the factory.
At least the buildings to the left had found new tenants.
The oldest part of the factory is protected. It was empty and strictly off bounds, though.
The most interesting building was the old power station. I decided to do a quick walk around it to see, if it would be accessible by some means.
Just look at the chimney. It’s such a shame those aren’t built anymore. Like the case with Martinniemi was, the company owning the premises wants to demolish it. Here the courts didn’t give in.
Unfortunately the fence was tight. There was no way to enter the old power station.