So This Is Where You Learned To Skateboard Part I

For almost ten years when travelling between my former home town and birth town, a building caught my eye. It looked like an old school or association building of some sort. It was located off the highway by the old road and was surrounded by a forest from the highway side.

It seemed to get into a worse and worse shape. Towards the end of my stay in my home town it even seemed to have broken windows. When I read from the local papers, that municipal politicians had finally forbidden the use of the house and closed it for good, I decided to have a closer look.

It surely didn’t look like a useable building anymore. I mean, it barely had intact windows.

The front and side were sealed, so I tried at the back.

And bingo. The building in this photo is the old privy building at the back of the yard. And I am standing right in front of an open something. Don’t know, whether its a door or a window.

But let’s take a look inside. And not believe our eyes.

I was expecting a large ballroom, and indeed the space had been something like that back in the days. Now it was a massive indoor skatepark. And I say massive, because the village I am in is very small.

And indeed while doing my research for this post, I found an explanation. This is a former youth association building built in 1954. Back in the late 1980’s it had already been out of use for some years, so the local youth asked the association to be allowed to use it for skateboarding.

They got permission, and local skaters made the decaying building their world for decades. Back in 2017 they celebrated 30 years of skateboarding in the house.

The association had throughout the years received several subsidaries for keeping the building in mint condition. They were paid the subsidies, but apparently nobody checked what had been done with them.

In 2020 the municipality started to inspect this. They found the building and immediately sealed it preventing any use of it.

The reasons? The roof renovations started in 2018 were still ongoing. In fact earlier reparations subsidised in 2002 for the repairs of the roof support structures were also still not ready. The roof structure wasn’t solid, but was only supported temporarily. Almost all windows had been broken and there was glass and other thrash everywhere. Walls had been damaged, the skateboarding hall’s heating had been destroyed, and nobody had sweeped the chimneys. There were no emergency exits and the requirements for fixing the building’s frame had never been obeyed. Neither had orders given back in 2008 by the fire department been obeyed.

But in the end this had been their place for decades. People kept breaking in, skateboarding and disobeying the orders. Even more vandalism was done.

I now fully understand, why I know so many skateboarders from this tiny village.

But before they moved in, the building was used like all other youth association houses in Finland. People came to dance, bands performed and sometimes there were even movie screenings. Here a band has left its mark on the walls back in 1975.

And if you wonder, what the St. River, which comes up already for the second time is, it’s a translation of the municipality’s river into English. We are in Pyhäjoki, which actually means Holy River. But St. River does sound better.

As I’ve revealed the location, it’s probably evident what has happened with this building.

Now this is something. Back in the days before digital displays on trains displaying the destination, they used boards like this. This sign has been travelling between Helsinki and Rovaniemi for years if not decades. And somehow it has ended up here.

There were stairs from the stage to a largish room, which has probably been the back stage.

And from that space there was access to the lobby, which I couldn’t access from the outside.

Well, it looks like they did order some of the materials to fix the roof.

The lobby had always retained its 1950’s feeling.

There had been a fireplace of some sort in here, but nope, no more.

The lobby seen from the other direction. The ballroom is to the left, tha backstage is straight ahead and the main entrance is to the right. Somewhere between them you can see the topic of the next post.

But before that still some strange, darkish spaces behind the lobby.

Such as this large room with blocked windows, which I can’t imagine any use for.

But finally going upstairs. Which was indeed something of a surprise.