From the Borderlands of Building Preservation and Decay

FROM THE BORDERLANDS OF BUILDING PRESERVATION AND DECAY

When a rare opportunity presented itself and I had a free weekend, I decided to visit, after years, what is perhaps Parikkala's most unused public potential site. It has been the scene of a difficult history, a craft school, and a modest museum. Now it is in private ownership. The tour of Koitsanlahti manor was interesting, even though the building and grounds are already – or should I say still – far from their days of glory. I gladly paid the nominal entrance fee, as the interiors contained plenty of antique furniture, paintings, and artifacts to examine, even if none were original. Where did the whip found years ago in a crack in the wall of the building and the stone mortar from the local collection go? The Finnish Heritage Agency has at least preserved a piece of the manor's wallpaper. The fate of old culturally significant buildings is often unenviable, especially if their use is debated for years. In the best case, it can turn out like the well-funded Kotkaniemi in Luumäki, where the memory of P. E. Svinhufvud's villa has been carried into a new home as a museum, but also into cafe, event, and ancillary service operations. Even Ruokolahti's Rantalinnassa seems to have reactivated to some extent after a long period of silence.

There are many other examples. Even in the very centers of cities – or perhaps precisely in these – a significant old property can be neglected. It is not always a magnificent building: in Lappeenranta, an endangered school from the 19th century and a private house from the 1920s, practically condemned for demolition, stand close to each other. Lack of use and neglect are poison.

So what is worth preserving and why? The basic premise is, or at least should be, the valid classification used by the museum sector into historical, architectural-historical, and landscape values. This division is understandable and important in itself, but in many places it is merely declarative and ineffective.

What if building conservation and zoning professionals adopted a proactive criterion as one of their value bases, where built heritage and its surroundings would be recognized as valuable and noteworthy for development functions, such as tourism use? That is, more weightily and broadly than currently: the valuation would already cover the most robust barns, the best drying kilns, and other traditional buildings also from the perspective of reuse. This should be persistently and encouragingly implemented in various ways, with guidance and assistance.

Let's return to Parikkala. Who still remembers Ala-Hovia on the shore of Argusjärvi? What's happening in Kukonkanta? Does the Huvitus cottage still stand the test of time next to Surumäki manor? All of these, like some sites in Uukuniemi and Saari, are linked to the most interesting personal or cultural history of the locality, which one would hope could still be brought forth somehow, despite and without infringing on privacy. This could also interest the owners, and some incentives could be offered.

On both sides of Joukionsalmi, there would also be work to be done in the general maintenance of buildings. On the Kukkaronlahti side, if one manages to glance while driving past, there is a local wooden building peculiarity known as Poutanen's house. Phases related to the house and its surroundings include, for example, its early use as the village telephone exchange. The location would also be favorable in many ways, but what is the current state of the building?

On the shore of Simpelejärvi at the strait is Laatokan Portti, behind which lies a somewhat newer history of use as a border guard station. This story could also be clarified better than it is now, especially if the watchtower next to Highway 6 had been preserved. However, it was removed some time ago, and its place is now occupied year after year by decaying unfinished auxiliary buildings at the lake's best viewpoint.

Of course, renovating and maintaining old culturally historic properties, and even implementing new operational ideas for accommodation, food services, or Activities, is inherently such an undertaking that many never even begin it. Besides capital, projects fundamentally require extensive effective cooperation and dedication.

Koitsanlahti manor's one-time open public day seemed to have garnered reasonable popularity, which could be inferred from the cars accumulated in the yard over a few hours. Many likely came out of sheer curiosity, and among them were visitors from afar.

What opportunities would this dormant prime location in Parikkala have if the locality could collectively take even a few ambitious steps forward in enhancing the building and grounds and in new, more open public use? Ideas would certainly be plentiful...

-Rajamaisteri