Heinola's strength as a national city park
City structure and parks as recreation area
Heinola is an excellent example of Finnish town planning on the grid pattern from the period of King Gustav, which has been well preserved up to the present day. The central part of the city is based on plans laid down in 1779, which Governor de Geer improved in 1785 by adding the architectonic element of the broad tree-lined Perspektiivi avenue, surrounded by housing for officials in the regional government. Ever since then, parks have been an essential element of Heinola’s image as a city.
A little park was founded around the church back in the 1850s, and work began to establish the Harjupuisto park towards the Kymenvirta river in the 1860s, which was extended northwards in the 1890s. In 1892, work was started on the Rantapuisto lakeside park. In Heinola, buildings representing different eras throughout the city’s history are an essential part of the parks.
The garden and interior of the regional police commissioner’s house date from the late 1700s, while the teacher training college buildings have served as training grounds through the generations. The public bath houses and swimming beach hark back to the era of grand spas, as do the Harju pavilion, the WPK (volunteer fire-brigade) building, city housing (now the art museum and city museum), and the church with its parsonage and graveyard. The railway station park serves as a link from transport history to residential housing and the water tower, as well as the bridges that have become the symbols of Heinola, including the new Tähtisilta bridge, which was completed in 1993. The old Savontie road has passed through Heinola in its time.
The city’s social history can be seen in the allotment garden area reserved for workers’ recreation on land owned by the city. The bird sanctuary and care facility for native birds, maintained by the city, are evidence of the city’s commitment to our natural heritage. City planning in Heinola has traditionally taken into account the most precious aspects of our environment, such as preserving lakeshores and the ridge areas as parks and recreation areas.
Heinola’s strength has always been the extensive, integrated land area owned by the city. Official parklands stretch from the Jyrängönvirta river to the north of the city to forests that have been maintained by the principle of multiple use with recreational purposes in mind. The integrity and variety of its greenspaces is one of Heinola’s outstanding features.
