Tag Archives: school

For the really first time this summer I am entering uncharted territory. The previous winter I read a news article about a municipality closing all but one of their schools. This is really no news. Many small municipalities in Finland only have one school left. But this one is one of the largest municipalities inContinue reading “Village School Number One”

After realizing, that I had to say goodbye to the old restaurant Jokela, I next drove up the Niinivaara hill, where two more endangered landmarks were standing. The first of them is the former Juhanala school built in 1960. The school in the building was closed in 2012 and the high school in the sameContinue reading “Two Landmarks Erased With One Plan Part I”

Today I present you a new big catch. It is a former elementary school built in 1954. Located outside the town center the school still had around 100 pupils, when it was closed in 2010. The building was in good shape back then. They tried to sell it several times, but the highest bid wasContinue reading “For Sale, Yet Unwanted”

This here is a former elementary school of a small, rural town. Apparently designed by architect Eino Pitkänen, who is famous for designing half of the town of Kajaani, and completed in 1949. School use ended in 2011 and all other use in 2021. The story is again familiar. The local activists want to preserveContinue reading “Another Endangered Beauty”

The front of the previous classroom. The back room yet again. And the following classroom. The classrooms were small. But the school wasn’t big either, though. Yet another standard classroom with a couple of cupboards and a sink. The side stairway at the back of the school. Reaching the top now. And here we go,Continue reading “Finally Here During Daylight Part III”

The ground floor has now almost been explored. The main entrance is down to the right and this is the main stairway. But I’m not going up just yet. Because I’ve just found the girls’ dressing room. I wonder, what has happened there near the floor. Again it seems like somebody has removed all theContinue reading “Finally Here During Daylight Part II”

And yet again a familiar location. This is a former village school, which I found in 2021 when it was getting dark and I was busy trying to make it to another location. I visited this place for the first time very late in the night in 2022 when in a hurry. Back then thereContinue reading “Finally Here During Daylight Part I”

The third floor side corridor was one of the final corners of the school still left to explore. A lonely ski boot. A further classroom. I wonder, what has been on the shelves. The poor piano. Another classroom with broken windows. Once again everything even close to loose had been ripped off. Another one ofContinue reading “This Screams Abandonment Part IV”

This seems to be the main lobby of the school. This was also, where the entrance from the street level was to. Young love, it seems. Another small room. I’m still a bit puzzled about their purpose. It seems that I have reched the end of the corridor. I’m still not any wiser about whereContinue reading “This Screams Abandonment Part II”

While sitting in my car Googling, which of the buildings would go first to, I found an article about the closure of the schools in the area. It mentioned one further school, which I previously was unaware about. The school had been built in the 1960’s and closed in 2012. In 2013 it was announced,Continue reading “This Screams Abandonment Part I”