Looks like I am in a very dark place.
Or actually it doesn’t anymore if I remove the lens protection. Now it looks like a large public building.
I entered through that door, which is intact, blocked and locked. It means, that somebody let me in.
These schedules from 2015 reveal it all. I am in a school. And not just any school. It’s the demolition threathened Haukipudas Church Village School.
I got fed up trying to unsuccessfully find a way in, so I called the city property manager and asked for permission to photograph. The discussion went as follows:
“We’re letting another group inside on Monday at 1pm. Is that also okay for you?”
“I’m sorry. I’m leaving town on Sunday.”
“Okay, just tell me when you want to come, and I’ll arrange the caretaker to open the doors for you.”
Is it this easy, I thought. And exactly on the agreed time in the agreed place I met with the caretaker, who told me send him a message, when I was done and had locked the doors behind me. I was inside.
I am currently in one of the dark classrooms in one wing of the school.
Which somehow looks like a home economics class.
The windows are intact, but have been covered nevertheless to avoid vandalism. The caretaker, who let me in, told me, that he ordered it as a preventative measure.
I could turn on the lights, as the school is still powered. But to make my journey more authentic, I decided to let things be the way they were.
The second classroom. Pretty similar to the first one.
A former central radio speaker. Again manufactured by Teleste, which seems to have held a huge monopoly in this field.
Plastic holders for files and sheets on the shelves, the first indications of life actually having existed here.
An interesting choice of curtains.
Looking back towards where I came from.
And moving towards the light after a turn.
A note saying, that the chess competition has been moved to the new school across the road.
This is a good start.