Mikkeli plans to demolish over 180-year-old wooden block for six-story building

Mikkeli is moving to revoke the protection order on the historic Pulkkisenkulma wooden block, clearing the way for demolition and the construction of two six-story buildings with office and residential space, Finnish broadcaster Yle reported.

The city held a public meeting Wednesday evening on a zoning change sought by the property’s new owner, Mikkelin Nostajat. The company’s chief executive, Ari Mökkönen, bought the buildings late last year. Under the proposed plan, two six-story structures would be built on the site, linked by a two-story connecting wing.

The change would lift the current conservation status of Pulkkisenkulma, a group of log buildings dating from the 1830s and 1840s. City officials cited the poor condition of the structures and years of neglect as reasons for allowing demolition.

Rakennusmestari Ari Laamanen, who prepared a condition assessment, said the buildings had not been safe for decades and that inspections found multiple microbe colonies. He expressed surprise that the block had been used for café operations in recent years.

Local residents and heritage advocates voiced regret. Elisa Kotro, a Mikkeli resident, said the city could have acted earlier to protect the buildings but lacked the will. Kirsti Kovanen, vice chair of the Kotiseutuliitto (homeland association), said the demolition would erase a unique piece of the city’s cultural history. “Historical diversity in the cityscape is an asset. It is what a living cityscape really is,” she said.

Pulkkisenkulma’s oldest building was erected by tailor Fredrik Engström in 1843, soon after Tsar Nicholas I ordered the founding of Mikkeli. The block got its nickname after landowner Taavetti Pulkkinen bought it at a forced auction in 1913. The last tenant moved out in late 2025.

The zoning amendment is expected to go before the city council in December at the earliest, said city planning chief Kalle Räinä, but could be delayed by appeals.

According to the Kotiseutuliitto, about 11 percent of Finland’s building stock was constructed before 1940.