That year I had read news about the demolition of a market garden in Imatra, just by the Eastern border. It was stated, that the demolition would start during summer, so I wasn’t really sure what would be left when I’d arrive.
The garden had existed since the 1950’s or the 1960’s according to aerial photos. It appears to have been closed in the 2010’s.
The yard was greatly overgrown. The greenhouses had already been demolished earlier, so I was mostly interested about the main building.
Which looked like it had seen better days.
The flower pots were the first thing reminding about the garden days.
The lot seemed a bit chaotic. It later turned out, that it contained a lot of plastic waste hidden underground.
But here we are inside the building.
The place was very primitive and in very bad shape. The last renovations had been done decades ago.
As you can see. This kitchen doesn’t fulfill modern standards.
The floor has vanished somehwere.
Somebody’s bike needs fixing.
The chair matches the earlier seen sofa.
The floor is bubbling and the light is magic.
Moving on deeper. The floor really wasn’t sound.
And I mean what I said about the floor.
That sure is a vintage fridge.
The kitchen of the second apartment was fairly colorful. There were several ones in the building.
Looks like a former bedroom. The floor again has holes in it.
Something’s eaten through it. It also has collapsed.
The inhabitant of this apartment has loved pink.
Leaving the second apartment.
I didn’t enter a third one. There was an active looking ashtray next to the stairs, which made me doubt, that somebody might still be occupying this place despite its horrible condition.
The glas says Stop! Demolition work and something, which is unreadable. I am not sure, if it tries to prevent people from entering or if it demands the stopping of demolition.
But nevertheless demolition started around a month later. A new road connection crossing a railroad was supposed to be built in its place, but as the border between Finland and Russia was closed, the construction was halted. The lot was fully empty by the summer of 2024.