Pro Sunila ry

Sunila is know as a sparse, close to nature and calm residential area with its well built and beautiful buildings. The development of the area in the recent years has been positive. Apartments have been renovated and modernized to today’s standards.

The connection between the pulp mill and the residential area started to break during the 1960s when some of the services previously provided by the company were taken over by the public sector. During the 1980s, the company sold most of the real estate to housing cooperatives and private businesses. The physical and social state of this area with high quality architecture started to deteriorate at the same time. The residents that were concerned over this dissonance gathered at Kantola June 1st 2000 to think about ways to turn this development to a positive direction. Pro Sunila was then founded to be a shared forum for the residents and other people interested in the area.

Pro Sunila has managed to raise awareness of the accomplishments of the area and its value as a feat in Finnish architecture, a magnificent piece of city planning and the grand project by Alvar Aalto. Pro Sunila also played a part in ensuring that the apartment buildings were renovated and modernized to the appropriate standards. We are by no means running out of problems and work still left to be done, for example in the maintenance of the service buildings along with landscaping are still in the works.

The purpose of the union

Pro Sunila strives to:

Increase appreciation of the area and make Sunila known in Finland and all over the world
Advance the preservation, environmental values and repairing of damages
Improve the services to a higher standard
Advance the renovating and modernizing of the buildings in the name of preservation
Advance the commissioning and renovating of empty and partially used premises
Develop interaction between residents
Study and document the history of the area