Published in: Helsingin Sanomat, 29th of December, 2004

- THE ABANDONED HOUSE HAS BEEN TRIED TO DEMOLISH MANY TIMES DURING THE YEARS

- The city of Vantaa has tried in vain for years to demolish the old and abandoned house along the river bank of Kerava-river. The house is dangerous to the surrounding area, but the requests to demolish the building has all been in vain, says the construction office lawyer from the city of Vantaa. The building license office gave a fine of 4 000 euros if the owner of the building doesn't demolish the building. There's also some different ideas, who is the owner of the place. The current owner was decided after an long legal battle. The current owner then complained to the administrative court.

- The new turn in the events happened in November/December, when the owner announced that there has been a change in the ownership of the place. The building which has nearly collapsed is located right in the river bank. Before you couldn't even see the building, but now there's a lot of new buildings nearby, states the lawyer. The officials are concerned the danger that the building presents to the children in the area, which are looking for a new adventures. The roof of the building can collapse in anytime, due to the weight of the snow. The floor is completely rotten and the supporting elements are moving on their own. The age of the building is a mystery and any guess might be the correct one. Most likely the building has been build in the early part of the last century, but some elements might be even older than that. The city of Vantaa gave already in 1998 a note to the owner, that the building needs to be demolished. 

- Things got a much more complicated during the next summer, when the owner announced that the ownership has been changed and city of Vantaa gave another note to demolish the building. At that time, a foreign company announced that it owns the property. The fight for the ownership of the land and the building ended into a messy court battle and finally the Court of Appeal decided the legal owner. In last October the city of Vantaa gave a fine of 4 000 euros to the owner and the owner complained to the administrative court. The place has been now sold to another owner, which will later be a new company. The requests to demolish the place are well known by the new owner. The city of Vantaa doesn't know who owns the building. The area doesn't have a permission for any construction efforts.