Expansion of Stockmann to affect traffic in city centre for years
Keskuskatu closed in April, cautious indoor renovations to be carried out
Sigurd Frosterus, the architect who designed the Stockmann's department store, was a skilful man. The 75-year-old building is a major landmark of the city centre.
Frosterus drew up plans for a possible expansion of the building already in the 1950's. This project is to be finished 50 years later, largely following his original plans.
There will be numerous building sites inside and outside Stockmann at the end of this decade. When the work is done, business space will have increased by one-fourth. The main change on the outside is that Keskuskatu will be turned into a pedestrian street. It will be closed from traffic starting in April.
Renovation of the department store is to be carried out with a minimum of disruption to sales activities. Tiina Fågel, the company's head of sales, is taking care of Stockmann's side of the deal. Her job is to minimise loss of customers during the renovation.
"Keskuskatu is being torn up this year. Construction barracks will also be set up on Mannerheimintie. All entrances to the department store will remain open, however. The construction will be halted during major sales, such as the Christmas shopping season", Fågel explains.
More space is to be acquired by adding a glass roof onto the outdoor area above the present glass ceiling that covers Stockmann's main atrium.
The store's restaurants will be moved from the sixth to the eighth floor. The sixth and seventh floors will be converted to commercial use. The food department will be expanded and the whole area beneath Keskuskatu will become a shopping area.
There will be 600 new parking spaces on three levels in a garage under Mannerheimintie. A minimum of 120 current spots will remain in use at all times during the construction. "The closing of these spaces was also suggested, but we could not agree to that", says Fågel.
If Stockmann had had its way, the construction would already be complete. The renovation was supposed to begin three years ago and be finished this year.
The Stockmann department store was built in 1930 in the centre of Helsinki. The building is protected under Helsinki's zoning regulations.
The most recent expansion of the store was completed in 1989. The current sales area covers 40,000 square metres, or four hectares. The expansion will bring one more hectare of floor space. The project will cost 125 million euros, and will be ready in 2010.
Stockmann is currently among the ten largest department stores in Europe.
The expansion has been delayed partly because of a dispute about the façade of the nearby Makkaratalo building. The National Board of Antiquities wanted to keep the façade as it is. Sponda, the owner of the building, announced that if no agreement is reached, the project will be scrapped.
The dispute over Makkaratalo was resolved late last year, allowing Stockmann to launch its renovation.
Helsingin Sanomat
|
| 24.1.2006 - TODAY |
 Expansion of Stockmann to affect traffic in city centre for years |
|
