Last dances?

A hotel has been planned for a couple of years in the annex of the Aleksanteri Theatre in Helsinki. In its place, seven ballrooms would disappear. It would be a tough place for dance enthusiasts.

– Make way, make way! shouts the teacher of the men’s contemporary dance group.

We are in the rehearsal hall of the Alexander Theatre in Helsinki, and the men are spinning like windmills.

But for how long?

Built in the 1950s, the Alexander Theater is designed with a luxury hotel with seven training halls disappearing. Also, where nearly twenty students of Helsinki Dance College are now stretching and sweating.

Dance enthusiasts and professionals are renting the Alexander Theater training facilities.

At that time, there was a Finnish National Opera and Ballet, which needed new training facilities. Changing rooms and a large ballet hall with cultural history were built in the new section.

– It is a crime for Finnish culture that the past is not valued. I don’t know if any emergency brake can be pulled anymore, says Heidi Almi.

Almi considers the disappearance of the premises to be desperate. He emphasizes that the facilities are currently used in particular by enthusiasts, ordinary city dwellers, and there is no one -central dance place elsewhere in Helsinki.

The Alexander Theater’s new section also has offices in the creative industry. The premises are rented by the Bulevard Theater Association, which runs the theater on the old side and is the main tenant of the whole property.

The halls are widely used. The association estimates that they have about 200,000 visits each year.

Dance moves thousands

\”There are extremely few functional and inexpensive training halls in the center of Helsinki that can practice professionally,\” he says.

Even the dance house is not suitable as a replacement: its halls are reserved only for groups visiting the house.

Tervamäki also highlights the recommendations for physical activity. He points out that not everyone does sports, but choose dance.

– There are exercise classes for retirees on weekdays. As soon as the school day is over, children’s training classes begin.

There are also dance schools in the new part. One of them is the Helsinki Dance Institute, which provides basic education in the field. Less than 900 students are visited by the Alexander Theater classes every week, whose age ranges from children to seniors.

Finding a replacement space would be an economically big challenge for the college.

– For example, free office space would require extensive and expensive renovation. After that, the rent would be about three times.

“The city has no tools”

The state-owned Senate Properties sold Alexander Theater Theater Boa Group for less than a couple of million euros in 2022. It requires a zoning change that has been pending for a year.

Sub -tenants have left the city a critical statement.

– We have no tools for this. The plot is private and we do not have the means to force to keep certain tenants on the premises.

A new formula proposal will be completed in late May. A hotel model has been selected for further development, where the building’s upgrading has been staggered.

– The Bulevard side and some of the other facades will be saved, but inside the building will be renewed and demolished completely from the back, says Huhtala.

There are no training rooms in the extension.

The side of the old theater remains and will continue the theater activities. According to Huhtala, the degree of protection of the old part becomes even tighter when it is protected by the Building Heritage Act. The National Board of Antiquities has been consulted.

“The world is changing and you have to go with it”

The hotel section has \”some\” storage space and some of the actors’ dressing rooms. According to Jokinen, a new small training room will be built under the old side of the grandstand.

Previously, performances have been practiced in the halls of the extension, but there will be no in the future. Jokinen emphasizes that in any case, they are mainly a visiting theater that will see ready -made performances.

– The world is changing and you have to go with it. Most importantly, the old theater will remain because it is unique, he says.

The model is inspired by Madrid

The goal is a small luxury hotel, which is run by an international operator. According to Raitala, the current main tenant, the Bulevard Theater Association, will continue on the old side.

A combination of the theater and a hotel is coming with a model in Madrid. The idea is to combine accommodation and presentations with the same package.

Raitala is aware of the opposition from the hotel plan and says that alternatives have been mapped.

According to him, other Boa Group’s other Helsinki properties would have enough replacement facilities. However, they should be renovated. He does not comment on the location and rent of any replacement facilities.

– The renovation can only be started when the licensing of the Alexander Theater is final. It can take years. Therefore, the preparation of leases for replacement premises would be premature.

Several hotel projects underway in Helsinki

* Talouselämä* reported last year that the occupancy rate of hotel rooms in Helsinki is low and the situation in the industry is \”terrible\”. Still, there are about twenty hotel projects in the city.

At the beginning of this year, the losses of the investors of the Helsinki -based ultra -fellow hotel were reported.

However, Boa Group’s Raitala says they are negotiating to run hotel activities with international luxury chains.

– They do not run out of money when they decide to start. We are critical and accurate about who becomes tenants.

A new consultation will be held on the town plan proposal to be published in May. The aim is to get a town plan to the Urban Environment Board in October -November and to the City Council estimated in January 2026.