Over-100-year-old railway station in Rovaniemi may be sold off as traffic closes in

The city of Rovaniemi is considering selling its old railway station, a protected building that has stood for 117 years and is one of the few structures in the city to survive the Lapland War. The city’s property management division had planned to discuss the sale at a meeting on Wednesday, but the item was removed from the agenda at the last minute for further preparation, according to Finnish public broadcaster Yle.

The station has been largely empty for a decade, and the city sees no suitable use for it. It had long been planned as a site for a children’s culture centre, but the city group ultimately abandoned that plan. The station survived an ammunition train explosion in October 1945 that burned most of the city, as it was positioned upwind of the blast.

The soon-to-be-built Ruokasenkatu bridge will come within a few meters of the station’s southern end, squeezing the building. The city has stated that the road will not cause problems for the structure. Construction work on the bridge is expected to continue until the end of October.

The building is in fair condition but needs sewer repairs. The city plans to carry out sewer maintenance this summer before any potential sale. Administrative director Antti Määttä said the sale is scheduled to be discussed at the property division’s next meeting on 10 June.

The zoning allows relatively versatile use of the building, and the city has no specific expectations for buyers or future use. “In private ownership, the station could find a new purpose and thereby a new life,” said city property manager Lauri Lehtinen.

The station’s last tenant was Rovaniemi Visual Arts School, which operated there until 2016. Over the years, it has also housed the Lapland provincial museum, a women’s workshop, and railway workers’ apartments. The city has sold other old buildings in recent years, including a red cottage and a former railway workers’ house. A previous attempt to sell the station in 2020 was rejected by the property division.