My friend didn’t have to hurry to work very early the following day. We both left for a nearby city in our own cars. The idea was, that we’d explore a bit further and then she’d go to work and I’d continue my road trip.
Our first location was a tip from another local friend. A factory, where she had spent a good part of her teenage years.
The building to the right is a brand new fire station, which was still under construction. The building to the left is the reason why we’re here.
It is a former match factory built in the 1920’s. It operated in its original use until the late 1930’s, when it became a plywood factory.
The factory was enlarged throughout the following decades, for the last time in the 1990’s. It was closed down in 2005. The area has waited for redevelopment ever since.
The area was a bit difficult to access. First of all it was a construction site. And secondly there was still activity in a part of the buildings: car repair workshops, construction company offices and a gym, among others.
The place was also heavily guarded. The buildings had suffered vandalism and arsons, and some five years earlier a teenage girl was seriously injured, when she fell through a rotten plywood covering a hole in the floor.
A newer part of the factory.
Offices of the construction site of the fire station. There had previously been an industrial building in that spot. Some of the less valuable buildings, which for certainly would not be protected, had already been demolished from the area.
Lemminkäinen was the construction company, which originally was supposed to develop the area. The company was merged with a competitor in 2018. So not much has happened in the area in recent years.
Some of the newer buildings of the complex. These are still in active use.
The power station has been demolished, but the chimney remains.
A closer look at the back side shows some abandoned cars and the fact, that there has been a bigger section of the building demolished. It has contained the old and new power stations.
There were more crumbling industrial buildings at the back, but the strong gate and people moving around the buildings still in use discouraged further exploration.
So my friend went to work and I continued my adventures.