The Vaasanpuistikko construction site has made the passing pedestrian path narrower than before. The renovation project should be completed in spring 2023.
Vaasa Park the construction site has made the atmosphere of Helsinginkatu, Vaasankatu and Pengerkatu even more restless.
Vaasa Park – commonly known Piritorina – has been closed by construction site fences, so drug addicts and the homeless who spent their time in the square have spread to new places in the vicinity. Drug traffickers known to be on the spot have also had to move.
The construction site is part of the extensive Sörnäinen metro station renovation project.
HS visited at Piritor, decorated with noon snow and sunshine.
The construction site is quiet, but there is a lot of noise around it. According to the residents of the area, a strip a few meters wide between the construction site fence and S-market Vaasanhalli happens and happens around the clock.
At the time of HS’s visit, the police patrol at one end of the strip was talking to people and at the other end, drug addicts were quarreling with each other. A row of calm men with backpacks leaned against the wall of Vaasa Hall, who were not interested in commenting on the development of the area’s environment.
In the middle of the strip, the townspeople went to and from the store.
Police are almost always on duty at the corners of Vaasa Park.
In the square a lot of time spent Catherine told HS that his district thinks the renovation is “pretty fucked up”. The critical assessment is because the construction site has driven people into such a small area between the square and the trade.
“When people pack up for this, situations escalate,” Katariina says.
“Even the slightest bang and fists are on display,” he continues. Soon an outside man arrives and happens exactly as Catherine had time to describe.
The person standing next to me agrees with the same assessment Allan. He says he is homeless and therefore cannot go home out of the sight of others, even if many say he would.
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“Everyone is stuttering because that’s where drugs are sold here”
A beer line in front of the store Tapio instead, consider the construction site a good thing. He hopes the area will become more comfortable after the renovation. Still, he recognizes the idea that the atmosphere in the area has tightened during the construction site.
“This place is the center of the drug trade in Helsinki. Everyone is stuttering just because this is where drugs are sold, ”says Tapio, nodding in the direction of a line of men standing on the wall.
Especially the corner of Vaasahalli on Helsinginkatu is often populated by the townspeople.
Sörnäinen the construction site of the metro station was started in August 2021. It should be ready in the spring of 2023.
The contract will renovate the entire street and ticket hall premises of the metro station. In the ticket hall, the business premises, the surface structures and equipment of the public corridor and stairwells, as well as the lighting will be renovated. In addition, the leaking roof of the metro station will be repaired.
The cost of the renovation has been estimated at around ten million euros.
Helsinki According to the city’s project plan, the renovation aims to improve the appearance, usability and accessibility of the metro station and improve the safety of the area.
The Sörnäinen metro station was opened in 1984, and before the coronavirus pandemic, it was the second busiest metro station in Helsinki with about 56,000 everyday passengers. The busiest is Rautatientori metro station, which opened in 1982.
The names of the people in this article have been changed due to their vulnerable position.
Read an extensive special article on the drug problem on the streets of Helsinki: The eternal spiral (HS 11/20)
In the illustration, the light-colored square becomes a nice place for morning coffee, for example, which can be enjoyed leaning against a tree.
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