THUNDER BAY – Andrew Cotter, chair of the Thunder Bay Heritage Advisory Committee says he’s heartbroken at the loss of the historic Finnish Labour Temple and wishes that the building could be saved.
“I’m not a building expert, but, we can all see its extensive damage and it looks really bad. I wish that we could, you know, save the building but that will really be for the engineers to figure out, I guess. But, it looks like a total loss to me,” said Cotter.
The Finnish Labour Temple, located at 314 Bay Street in the Finnish quarter in Thunder Bay, Ontario, was built in 1910 and meant a lot to the people of Thunder Bay.
“You know, I saw the outpouring on social media last night. I think Thunder Bay is grieving right now. Anyone who’s gone to the hotel restaurant or the Finlandia Club knows the cultural icon in Thunder Bay and really it’s the pride of our city,” said Cotter.
“So we lost one of our crown jewels in terms of heritage buildings last night. So I think we’re still grieving right now. It’s going to take a few days to heal from this.”
In addition to being the centre of Finnish cultural and political life in Northwestern Ontario, the hall housed the historic Hoito Restaurant, a museum, and featured a large stage, dance floor, and hall as well as meeting rooms for various groups.
“The building really just means a lot to the Finnish labour movement, labour movements in Canada, and Canada in general. And the building housed the iconic Hoito Restaurant which became world-famous,” said Cotter.
“We’ve had kings from Finland visiting the site and anyone who’s new to Thunder Bay always gets brought to the Hoito too. The Hoito and Persians are iconic things in Thunder Bay.”
The Finnish Labour Temple was initially built by two organizations, the Finnish-American Workers' League Imatra #9 and the "Uusi Yritys" or New Attempt Temperance Society, which formed the Finnish Building Company.
The lot that the hall stood on was purchased by socialist local in 1907 and blueprints for the hall had already been prepared in early December 1908 by architect C.W. Wheeler.
The building opened its doors to the public in March 1910, holding three consecutive days of opening ceremonies.
