The museums of Lappeenranta have had their collections removed from a building with indoor air problems. The future holds a new, unified collection space.
After a long wait, Lappeenranta’s museums have got rid of their collection space with indoor air problems.
Already in 2013, Yle reported on a museum storage room where staff were working in protective overalls and respirators due to poor indoor air quality.
Some of the objects that were there have been cleaned and moved to a new location, while others have been removed from the collections.
New space 2025
The city of Lappeenranta maintains four museums: the South Karelia Museum, the Lappeenranta Art Museum, the Cavalry Museum and the Wolkoff House Museum.
There has been a shortage of suitable collection spaces for a long time, and the museums’ collections are scattered in more than ten different addresses.
Ease of space problems can be expected in the next few years, as the city has added new collection spaces to its investment list. A total of six million euros have been set aside for their implementation.
– The hope is to have spaces with different storage conditions for objects, work spaces and customer service spaces. They could be used for public work related to the collections, says Partanen.
According to the Lappeenranta premises company, the planning of the premises will possibly start as early as 2023. It is scheduled to be ready in 2025.
There were few alternatives
Lappeenranta’s premises company confirms that Lappeenranta’s museums were rented in the former Kanavakoti, where there was an indoor air problem.
It was decided at one time because it was not easy to find replacement facilities and the collection facilities were not constantly occupied.
– Above all, it was embarrassing and tiring when protective equipment was needed, but there was no health risk in itself, he states.
According to Yle archive news, there have been problems in at least one Kanavakoti space as early as 1999 and a few years later.