Urban planning Shabby shopping center hides residents’ paradise: Isomyri’s demolition intentions threaten non-commercial premises

Looks deceive. The Isomyyri shopping center, which exudes the ideals of the 1980s, already looks a bit shabby, and the main door is not as crowded as the main door of the seven-year-old Myyrmann.

But there is something on the third floor of Isomyr that Myyrmanni does not have.

There are hundreds of West Vantaa organizations and associations in their own paradise.

For years, Isomyri has provided residents with non-commercial gathering and hobby facilities, jobs for mental health rehabilitators, adult college courses, and affordable lunches at Cafe Popolo.

Billiard tables, a recording studio, a game cave for young people and a well-equipped gym for city dwellers of all ages have been arranged in the youth facilities of almost a thousand square meters.

There are so many organizational members in Isomyyr that there are 156 different tenants listed in the residential premises alone. West Vantaa community worker Jesse Vahtervuon According to him, dozens of actors also rent Ark’s youth facilities.

“Ark’s gym is used by senior organizations, among others,” Vahtervuo says as an example.

Isomyr the first two floors have business premises with, among other things, ethnic shops for rent. Many Business Premises are empty.

However, all of this is coming to an end, as Citycon, the majority owner of the property, is planning to demolish the 35-year-old building and replace it with a bigger house.

Citycon’s Director of Real Estate Development Katriina Penttisen according to the hope, zoning and other planning would progress this year so that by the end of 2023, the transformation of the Isomyr block could begin.

For resident activities new premises have been feverishly sought for months. However, the options are limited.

“Rent has now been free for organizations. After all, such premises cannot be found anywhere in Myyrmäki, ”says the CEO of the Alvi Association Sanna Aarto.

Alvi has been working in Isomyyr since 2007 as an organizer of rehabilitative work. Its lunch café in Popolo employs forty people.

Under normal circumstances, there would be a hectic bustle inside. Due to interest rate restrictions, only staff selling take-away portions will be available on Friday through January.

One of them is Annie Sipilä, which is just getting employed in the restaurant industry. Sipilä came to Alvi’s café at a difficult time in his life in 2015.

“After more than 6.5 years, I am ready to go on the field,” says Sipilä.

Aartolla there would be many successes in Alvi’s operations. However, the continuation of the operation is worrying, as the organization needs enough squares to accommodate a large-scale kitchen.

“We visited the vacant premises at the Myyrmann Medical Center, but we could not reach an agreement on the rent,” says Aarto.

Named the power house, the former head office of Imatran Voima on Rajatorpantie is difficult for Cafe Popolo, because there are already a couple of commercial lunch cafés. Virtatalo does not like the city’s youth activities due to its location.

The option put forward by the city space center, where the youth facilities would have been moved to the premises of the cinema Kino Myyr and the local pub in Myyrmäkitalo, caused a strong reaction in the autumn.

Kino Myyri got extra time when Pop Up Kino Helsinki took over the shows for at least the spring. In Vantaa, Pop Up Kino Helsinki has run a block of cinemas in Rekola and Korso.

Now the city’s residential premises have been adapted into Myyrmäkitalo.

In Vantaa is a grand vision for Myyrmäkitalo that could be realized at the end of the decade. Now Myyrmäkitalo has a library and the Vantaa Art Museum Artsi.

One of Vantaa’s flagship projects is the Myyrmäki City Culture House, which can only mean the demolition of the 30-year-old Myyrmäkitalo and its replacement with a larger building.

If Vantaa’s plans come to fruition, temporary facilities must be sought not only for organizations, youth work, adult education and resident services, but also for the art museum and library.

A new, larger Myyrmäki city culture house is needed, because both the art museum and the library now operate in rooms that are too small for the needs. Both require double or triple space compared to the current situation.

In addition, the new building would house many new functions, such as the diverse residential, cultural and sports facilities that now exist in Isomyr.

Deputy Mayor Riikka Åstrand characterizes the situation as a complex puzzle. The population of Myyrmäki will increase in the next few years due to additional construction, so the need for the city’s leisure activities and recreational services is even greater.

“The new city culture house has been outlined as a versatile living room for citizens, comparable to Helsinki’s Oodi Library,” Åstrand describes.

Newer the demolition of buildings and numerous renovation projects are already ravaging the nerves of the residents.

The Myyrmäki mainland, or the pedestrian street Myyrmäenraitti, has been crossed for more than a year due to construction sites.

Opposite the Myyrmann shopping center, a total of about 600 new apartments will be built to replace the former parking area. It should be ready in a few years.

There will also be stone-foot shops and common areas for residents in the blocks. There are owner-occupied dwellings, rental dwellings, student dwellings and right-of-occupancy dwellings.

The grinding of Myyrmäki city center will continue in the coming years in the Isomyyr block and east of the train track.

Read more: Shopping malls are being demolished in Myyrmäki, replaced by thousands of new apartments – “Unfortunately if everything old is made low”