The construction of the Helsinki Central Library started, when the bucket of the excavator broke the asphalt of the construction site for the first time. Here it goes, and the construction will go on for almost three years. The steering group for the project followed this historic city moment with joy and it had invited friends of the library to join. The Chairperson of the steering group for the Helsinki Central Library project is Ritva Viljanen.
The first excavator will started digging at the Central Library construction site on 1 September.
”Helsinki is being built as a city with an increasing sense of community, as our population is growing at a good rate. The Central Library is a diversified meeting place of city culture for the people of Helsinki and for visitors. It brings us a lot of joy and culture as well as new ideas”, says Ritva Viljanen, Deputy Mayor for Education and Cultural Affairs of the City of Helsinki.
When completed, the Central Library will reach some 10,000 visitors per day and some 2.5 million visitors annually.
”The Central Library complements the exceptional library network of Helsinki, which includes the likes of the Kallio Library, the Rikhardinkatu Library as well as the Kaisa Library and the National Library, which are all attractions in their own right. The Central Library will finally bring a house of literature and literary art to the Töölönlahti cultural campus. The construction of the Central Library is both on schedule and on budget and many big tendering processes have already been completed”, says Viljanen.
The construction phase’s effect on the employment is approximately 1,200–1,500 man-years for the whole economy. The total costs for the building are € 98 million.
The Central Library will be constructed close to the Helsinki Central railway station, just off the Kansalaistori Square. It is located centrally in an urban space and conveniently by public transport connections.
The Helsinki Central Library is a part of the project honouring the centennial anniversary of Finland’s independence. The library will be completed on 6 December, 2018.