In the early 1950’s a mine was founded in a remote swamp area. As soon as it started operations, a small village was built around it. There were around 250 houses at the peak with some 1000 people living there.
The company strived to keep their employees happy in the middle of nowhere. They bought areas for recreation in the vicinity, built shops and services. And to keep them entertained, they built a multi purpose assembly hall for free time activities. The early 1960’s building hosted movies, dance nights and even sports were played there.
The story ends in a familiar way. The mine was closed in the early 1990’s and people started to move away. The shops, bank and post office closed, the assembly hall was abandoned.
Although the building is not in use anymore, somebody keeps cutting the grass. It wasn’t an overgrown jungle.
The front was closed and boarded shut, but I knew that the place had suffered a lot of vandalism, so there had to be a way in somehow.
Perhaps around this corner?
A-ha. Somebody had even been kind enough to hold the door open with something that looks like an old flag post.
Strange carriages used to store or transport something. Maybe tables or chairs.
First looks inside. At least it has been possible to play basketball here. There has probably also been a silver screen in this end or the other, as movies are mentioned as one activity, which has taken place here.
The space was pretty large. This must have been the center of life in the village back in the days.
These are the large windows seen in the first photo of the post. They provided a lot of natural light to the hall.
This is the former lobby. The use of natural light was clearly a theme here, and the sunroof provides just that despite all the doors and windows having been boarded shut. The main entrance is straight up front.
The cloakroom. I wish the vandals hadn’t turned the desk over. The view would have been much more beautiful.
In addition to two entrances to the hall there was also one to the basement. Guess if I went.
Although I should have gone. According to my research there was a bowling alley in the building. It would definitely have been worth seeing.
The ticket booth.
Another view of the cloakroom. The plastic floor tiles have come loose like in so many other places I’ve photographed previously. I also bet that the glue contained a lot of asbestos.
One final look at the hall.
And then I was outside. I saw a car move slowly towards me on the main street. It looked extremely familiar and stopped. The window opened.
“What the fuck are you doing here”, the driver asked.
He was a photographer working for the newspaper I used to work for. They were there with a reporter writing about the life in the quiet mining village nowadays. Finland is a small country.