Lapinlahti’s resident’s initiative was handed over in a festive ceremony at City Hall

The Lapinlahti community and its supporters delivered the “Let’s secure Lapinlahti’s public ownership” initiative on 9.10.2024 at Helsinki City Hall. The event was festive and successful, with a larger-than-expected number of representatives of the council groups attending.

In addition to handing over the initiative, the Lapinlahti community donated a Lapinlahti watercolour painting by Mikko Teerenhovi and an autographed campaign leaflet to the council groups. Film director and patron of the local initiative Mika Kaurismäki was present to hand over the initiative.

The final number of official signatures is 10 682. Lapinlahti’s residents’ initiative was received in good spirit at the town hall. It is the fifth most-signed resident’s initiative in Finland. Official representatives of the council groups, such as Deputy Mayor for Urban Environment Anni Sinnemäki and Deputy Mayor for Culture and Leisure Paavo Arhinmäki, also gave their own speeches, in which Lapinlahti’s initiative campaign and the important work that is currently being done received much praise.

Key topics included the future renovation of Lapinlahti’s buildings, their form and duration, and future activities in the area. The Harbour Tunnel was also mentioned. You can watch the entire handover ceremony and everyone’s speeches on a livestreamed reel in Lapinlahden Lähde’s social media (@lapinlahdenlahde).

Representatives of the council groups present:

Kokoomus: Otto Meri
Vihreät: Anni Sinnemäki
SDP: Jenni Hjelt
Vasemmistoliitto: Paavo Arhinmäki
Perussuomalaiset: Laura Korpinen
RKP: Björn Månsson
Keskusta: Terhi Peltokorpi

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Lapinlahti community speech 9.10.2024:

Dear representatives of the council groups, dear deputy mayors, dear representatives of the Urban Environment Division and dear supporters of the Let’s Secure Lapinlahti’s Public Ownership initiative.

We are gathered here in the lobby of Helsinki City Hall on the eve of World Mental Health Day, Wednesday 9.10.2024, for the handover ceremony of this initiative.

Helsinki Lapinlahti is the oldest psychiatric hospital in Finland. Thanks to the cooperation of active civil society actors and the City of Helsinki, Lapinlahti is now a thriving centre for mental wellbeing, science, arts, culture and small business, which turns 10 this year. 

The Lapinlahti community, with its broad base of support, launched this resident’s initiative campaign on the fifth of February this year. The signatories of the resident’s initiative demand that the Helsinki City Council adopts a decision in principle that the City of Helsinki will continue to be the main owner of the former hospital area, park and buildings in Lapinlahti. The signatories also demand that the city safeguards Lapinlahti as an open, community-based centre for inclusion and mental well-being.

The initiative’s signature gathering was largely a volunteer-driven campaign, which was visible for more than six months on digital channels and at numerous events in Lapinlahti. The support expressed by many visible influencers, and especially by thousands of citizens and active campaign volunteers, for Lapinlahti’s current activities and public ownership of its national cultural heritage has been heart-warming. It shows how the citizens together want to cherish Lapinlahti, which is valuable, meaningful and beloved to them, as part of Helsinki.

In just eight months, the resident’s  initiative has gathered more than 10 600 official signatures. It is the fifth most-signed resident’s initiative in Finland and the fourth most-signed in Helsinki. The initiative also received more than 1 200 unofficial signatures from outside Helsinki.

The nearly 12 000 signatures collected for the resident’s initiative are a strong expression of support for the continued preservation and development of this built cultural environment, which is of national importance, for all the citizens of Helsinki – and the citizens themselves! – Lapinlahti as a common Lapinlahti for all citizens and residents. The nearly 12,000 signatures are also a strong expression of support for the future of the area as a centre for mental health, science, arts, culture and small business, especially for disadvantaged citizens.

We now read the full text of the resident’s initiative as published in February:

We, the undersigned citizens of Lapinlahti, propose that the City of Helsinki continue as the main owner of the former hospital area, park and buildings in Lapinlahti and secure the future of Lapinlahti as a centre for arts, culture and mental well-being open to all.

The operation is threatened by the sale of Lapinlahti’s buildings to a private entity to which the area would be primarily a real estate investment. Lapinlahti is an oasis of recreation, relaxation and empowerment for tens of thousands of people, a workplace for hundreds of people and a multidisciplinary meeting place for mental health and inclusion. This valuable entity must be safeguarded through public ownership and the decision-making power of Helsinki residents.

According to the recent Helsinki Cultural Environment Programme, the preservation, development and use of diverse tangible and intangible cultural heritage is an asset and economic value for the city. According to the cultural environment programme, the experience of continuity creates added value for places and intangible cultural heritage is integrated into cultural environments as part of their history and use. In addition to the cultural environment programme, Lapinlahti also implements other strategically important objectives of the city and complements the service network of the Helsinki region.

The City of Helsinki’s real estate strategy enables the city to own strategically important sites. Lapinlahti is definitely such a strategically important site, which also has unique cultural and historical values.

The decision-makers now have every opportunity to ensure that Lapinlahti continues to be a place of well-being and inclusion for all, open to all, owned by the citizens of Lapinlahti, a place of community and human spirit, for everyone, regardless of background, characteristics or wealth.

With this resident’s initiative, we, the undersigned, demand that the Helsinki City Council adopts a decision in principle that the City of Helsinki will continue to be the main owner of the former hospital area, park and buildings in Lapinlahti and that the City will secure the future of Lapinlahti as a centre for arts, culture and mental well-being.

This was the end of the text of the initiative.

Robert Eriksson has been one of the main architects of the content of this resident’s initiative. Respected for his expertise and loved for his kind-hearted nature, Robert passed away last month after an illness. As the initiators of the initiative, we would have wished that he was with us to share this moment here today.

We hereby hand over the Let’s Secure Lapinlahti’s Public Ownership initiative to the City of Helsinki. We hope that the City Council will make wise and far-reaching decisions to preserve our common cultural heritage as a public asset for future generations.

Thank you.

Text: Siru Valleala
Photos: Matti Koskinen