Condemned Espoo City Hall may yet be given a new lease of life

New investigation into the temporary use of the building has been requested; further discussion of the building’s demolition decision sought by a group of Espoo city councillors.

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By Elina Väntönen
     
      “City Hall for the residents! Long live the City Hall!” These were among the slogans shouted by the twenty or so Espoo locals who braved the bitterly cold weather on Monday night, when the members of the Espoo City Council arrived for their first meeting of the year.
      The couple-of-dozen-strong group of concerned Espoo residents had arrived on the scene to demand that the condemned building - regarded by many as an eyesore and with a demolition order hanging over it since the spring of 2010 - be assigned to the use of various citizens’ organisations and hobby and activity groups.
      “The Tapiola Art House has already been ordered to be demolished. The City Hall is currently empty and we desperately need premises”, explained painters Anja Snell and Helena Salminen.
      “Espoo should respect its history”, said Elina Sormunen, who had arrived from the Laaksolahti district of town.
      Antti Saarinen, from the Left Alliance Youth, had come to collect names for a petition against the demolition of the building.
      According to Saarinen, the petition already contained around a thousand signatures.
     
The small but resilient group of demonstrators had not come to Espoon Keskus in vain.
      By a crushing margin of 63-2, the Espoo City Council decided to return the vexed City Hall issue back to the preparation round for a third time.
      On this occasion the idea is to find out what kind of light renovation measures would enable the opening up of the City Hall to temporary use.
      “The City Board’s reply is in the same league with the propaganda over the mice and mould and mildew problems, or the staff's dramatic escape to rented premises across the railway line”, thundred the Left Alliance group’s chairman Kari Uotila in his opening speech, as he tabled a council motion on the issue.
      According to Uotila, the cost estimate offered by the City Board is based on a requirements study conducted in 2006 for a 99-per-cent renovation project, even though what was requested was an investigation of the cost of much less extensive temporary repairs.
      “Do you consider me stupid, unconcerned, or just lazy when you people come up with this kind of presentation?” charged Finns Party deputy councillor Jani Tiainen.
      Espoo Mayor Jukka Mäkelä addressed the council, reminding it of the seriousness of the indoor air problems with the building and stating that the presented proposals had been drafted based on the council’s previous decision to demolish the City Hall.
     
And a few times in the course of the meeting the conversation did indeed turn to the previously-made decision to flatten the place.
      ”That decision itself needs to be demolished, not the City Hall. It was made based on false information”, Merva Mikkola (Green League) insisted, but she was interrupted by the Council’s chairman Jyrki Kasvi (Green League).
      “Concentrate on the subject in hand, which happens to be the decision to return the matter back to the preparation round”, said Kasvi to his party colleague.
      "That is perfectly correct, but do not interrupt me”, Mikkola snapped, and finished off her speech on the "wrong" subject.
      Even the audience failed to comply with the rules.
      “Please, no expressions of emotion from the gallery”, Kasvi called out when someone in the public gallery unwisely started to applaud.
     
After the hearing, twenty or so councillors issued a request demanding that the council annul its 2010 decision to demolish Espoo City Hall.
      In the opinion of the signees, the demolition decision was based on an inadequately-prepared proposal from which some essential information had been omitted.
      They requested that a new handling of the case be staged without delay.
     
Espoo City Hall was completed in 1971, just before Espoo gained the right to call itself a city (see separate article).
      Many would argue the poor building, like some professional sportsmen, has not seen a healthy day in its life.
      Nevertheless, even if it is not good enough for the city fathers to occupy, it might still be of use to the residents in some shape or form.
     
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 31.1.2012


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Second-city Espoo chalks up 40 years (3.1.2012)
  Indoor air problems prevent temporary use of Espoo City Hall (4.10.2011)
  Espoo City Board approves demolition of City Hall (30.3.2010)

Links:
  Espoo (Wikipedia)

ELINA VÄNTÖNEN / Helsingin Sanomat
elina.vantonen@hs.fi