For some reason I decided to take my way back the first floor corridor to the main stairway seen in the far right end of the picture.
The reason was probably, that I realized that I had skipped the handcraft class annex with the green curtains.
Now these old sewing tables with old Singers, which once were very common, are now pretty valuable.
A more modern version of a Singer. These are less valuable.
The handcraft class from the other direction. The storage room explored in one of the previous posts is right up front.
The school boards usually are about plants, animals or countries. This one displays the process of manufacturing rayon fiber. I’ve actually once photographed a plant manufactoring this type of fiber.
A small window on the side of the main stairway.
And a view towards the back yard.
And so we are finally on the top floor.
The top floor corridor is very similar to the first floor corridor, but the floor is of a different color.
The sign says ‘Prepare to stop’. That’s an interesting find.
The corridor started with two small office rooms. My guess probably isn’t too far off, if I guess that one of them was housed by the headmaster.
Which was probably this one, as there was a desk.
Another small room. The gym wing can be seen through the windows.
So what did you do during the woodworking class? Pops, fixing a moped and something during the eight grade. A safe and a lot of random stuff during the ninth grade. So it’s not just home economics, which was taught to secondary school pupils here. It was also woodworking.
A book with the title ‘Know The Kymenlaakso Area’. I probably know it already!
So a smoking formidden sign on the top floor door. Is this for the pupils or the headmaster?
There are so many school buildings just like this in America, many of which I’ve seen within a few miles of where I grew up. Just like this, they are abandoned in such a way where it’s like one day there were students and teachers using these spaces, and suddenly they just weren’t. It’s like everyone just got up and left one day.
It’s important to document places like this through photographs, because otherwise, people won’t recognize the awful waste of structures (and items left within such structures like that vintage Singer sewing machine). Something really should be done about it, considering the shortage of housing and other building for public use.
Thank you for your comment, Amelia, I fully agree with you. It’s important to document these places.
In Finland the situation is pretty difficult. Back in the days there was a school in about every village in Finland. Since the 1970’s most of them have been closed. They are often the biggest and, in terms of architecture, best designed and most beautiful large buildings there. But as people are moving to cities, there are no kids and all the municipalities are suffering economical difficulties. The schools, and also other buildings fall to the victim of this developement. In these places there is even less need for housing than schools.
But I continue to travel and document.
Just for context, Amelia is my wife and best friend. 🙂
I know that, Thomas! 🙂 I am very happy to have the both of you commenting and will actively comment back on anything you two wish to share with me!