Uncertainty about former Hartwall Arena: “It already has a bad, musty smell”

It has been over two and a half years since Russia invaded Ukraine, and for just as long, the former Hartwall Arena – which is now called Helsinki Halli – has not been in use, facing an uncertain future. Since 2013, the largest concert venue in Finland’s capital Helsinki is owned by Russian oligarchs – Gennady Timchenko and the brothers Arkady and Boris Romanovich Rotenberg – who are now on the EU sanctions list, in conjunction with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In order to avoid association with the Russian main owners, the Helsinki-based beverage company Hartwall, largest sponsor and holder of the naming rights to the arena, ended its sponsorship and had all Hartwall signs removed from the venue’s walls within the first week of the invasion. At the same time, event organisers who had bookings for the arena started to look for alternative venues. Some events had to be cancelled altogether, and some were moved either to smaller venues in Helsinki, such as the Helsinki Ice Hall, or to other cities like Espoo and Tampere. Also the Helsinki-based ice hockey club Jokerit had to look for a new home, and as its chairman of the board, Mikko Saarni, now reports, the arena has already started to smell bad:

“There wasn’t any water on the floors, but they said you can tell that the building is out of use. It already has a bad, musty smell.” – Mikko Saarni

This update was given to him after the last load of equipment was picked up from the arena a couple of weeks ago.

“Like everyone else, we are worried about whether the facility and hall will be usable again soon.” – Mikko Saarni

Due to unpaid bills, the facility’s electricity, district heating and water were cut off at the beginning of September 2024. During the same month, Juhani Hyvärinen, the director of Talteka (The Finnish Building Services Industries And Trade Association), warned that, amongst other things, the facility’s pipes could freeze once freezing temperatures arrive:

“Without heat, the indoor temperature can drop to freezing in a fairly short period of time.” – Juhani Hyvärinen

According to Juhani Hyvärinen, problems could also arise before freezing temperatures arrive, as moisture could build up and pose problems if the ventilation systems are not operating. The lack of power also makes it difficult to monitor critical systems such as the arena’s access control system, fire alarms and other electronic hazard notification systems. According to Finland’s national public broadcaster YLE, the arena’s management firm noted already at the end of August 2024 that there are ammonia tanks at the arena. Without electronic monitoring, if the worst comes to the worst, there is a risk that the tanks will explode.