"Citizens' Square" opens on the quiet

Only a few people found their way to the new downtown meeting point on Sunday

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Kansalaistori, or literally translated "Citizens’ Square", in the area between the Helsingin Sanomat office building Sanomatalo and Helsinki’s new Music Centre was opened on the quiet on Sunday.
      On Sunday, only a few people were seen hanging around in the area and looking at the new meeting point with some astonishment.
      ”I did not even know that this place was open”, said Antti Koskelin, who was sitting in the park on Sunday.
      ”I was looking at that basketball court, as I like playing basketball myself. To be honest, I am a little surprised at the artificial turf”, Koskelin noted.
      The future of the badly damaged former Finnish Railways warehouses, the so-called Makasiinit, which were almost entirely destroyed during the May Day celebrations in 2006, has raised a lively debate.
      ”For emotional reasons, I wish that the warehouses could be made use of”, Koskelin adds.
     
The City of Helsinki did not announce the opening of the new Citizens’ Square beforehand. The silence was due to the delay in putting the finishing touches to the area.
      ”The paving in the park of the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma is still under way”, reports Project Manager Sirpa Kallio, who is in charge of the Finlandia Park project in the heart of Helsinki, between Töölönlahti bay and the inner city.
      A granite delivery from China has been late, which has been delaying the work.
      ”The opening of the Citizens’ Square has remained in the shadow of the opening of the new Music Centre”, Kallio regrets.
      The opening of the Music Centre, which will house part of the Sibelius Academy and provide a new home for the helsinki Philharmonicv and the Radio Symphony Orchestra, is scheduled for August 31st.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Cultural oasis "Finlandia Park" to surround Helsinki´s Töölönlahti Bay (14.2.2007)

Links:
  City of Helsinki: Finlandia Park

Helsingin Sanomat