Riihimäki municipal office building faces collapse, evacuated in stages

The city of Riihimäki has ordered a full evacuation of its Veturi municipal office building after structural instability made the premises unsafe for occupancy, public broadcaster Yle reports.

Access is now restricted to small groups retrieving only essential items, with the building being cleared section by section. The facility previously housed key municipal services, including urban planning and building supervision.

A structural engineer’s assessment found that one wing of the building could not be certified as safe, prompting the complete evacuation. The instability follows ground subsidence and shifting foundation piles, likely caused by nearby construction work for the new Jokikylä residential area. The project involved relocating part of the Vantaanjoki riverbed.

Riihimäki’s chief building official Paavo Vuori warned that potential repair costs may prove prohibitive, making demolition the only viable option. The building had previously been slated for demolition but was temporarily spared when the Kanta-Häme wellbeing services district, Oma Häme, expressed interest in repurposing it. Authorities must now reassess those plans.