Intro
The school building was designed by Lars Sonck and built in 1924-1925. The hill it stands on is called Kasberget. Earlier on the site there was a lookout tower used by sailors’ wives when they wanted to look out over the sea to see if their husbands were on their way home from the seas. Nowadays Kristinestad High School is located here.
History
By the early 1920s, the local school had grown to the point where it could not accommodate more students and an extension was planned. In March 1922, the town council met and decided to ask if the neighbouring town of Kaskö and the other neighbouring Swedish municipalities would like to contribute a third of the costs of a new school building.
By March, all the municipalities had considered the matter. Kaskö would not participate, but Närpes, Tjöck and Övermark were unanimously in favour of participation. In Lappfjärd and Sideby, participation was approved, but only after a vote.
In June 1922, a planning committee was set up, which was tasked to acquire a plot of land, draw up plans, cost proposals and determine the terms of the mortgage. The chairman of the municipal council August Tåg from Närpes, the tradesman Micael Mangs from Tjöck, the chairman of the council Johan Franzén from Övermark, the layman Hemming Hanses from Sideby, the municipal councillor Johan Starcke from Lappfjärd were elected to the committee and the school principal Torsten Ström and the chairman of the town council K. A. Winqvist were elected to the committee from the town. The total construction costs were then estimated at 1.8 million and the city would contribute 1.2 million.
In July 1922, the city council met and decided to give a plot of land on Kasberget behind the town hall without compensation. The city’s Finnish-speaking politicians disapproved of these decisions on the school’s construction and appealed to the district court. The case then went to the Court of Appeal and even to the Supreme Court, which rejected the appeal in April 1923. Planning could then continue and Professor Lars Sonck drew up detailed plans.
In May 1924, the contract was advertised in the local newspaper and in the country’s largest newspaper, and the advertisements stated that K. A. Winqvist, chairman of the building committee, could provide more information.
In July 1924, the building committee decided to accept the offer of the “Cement Building Company of Helsinki”. Construction was to begin immediately, and the special feature was that the same construction company was at the same time to build a sanatorium on Högåsen for the Tuberculosis Society of Finland. Construction of the sanatorium began a few months before the school and it could be put into operation a few weeks after the opening of the school.
In October 1924, the walls were bricked up and the roofing could begin, and this work was completed before winter.
In July 1925 the building was ready for final inspection and could be fitted out for use at the start of the autumn term. Much of the interior work was done by Ab Westa Oy, whose newly established carpentry shop was located at the Bastuparken Park where the Maritime Museum is today.
On 30 August 1925, a grand opening ceremony was held in the new school. Invited were the town’s management, prospective and former pupils, current and former teachers and representatives of the state authorities.
From the autumn term of 1925 onwards, the school operated in the new building and the old building next to Kyrkotorget square could then be handed over to the Swedish Folk School.
For a period during the Continuation War 1941-1944, the school building was used as a war hospital, but otherwise it has been in operation every year.
In 1947, the state decided that the municipal Swedish school in Kristinestad should become state-run and after a transitional period it was closed in August 1950 and the school began to be called Kristinestad Samlyceum. Without paying any compensation, the state took over the building and all its furnishings.
In 1973, in August, Kristinestad Samlyceum became a municipal school again and it then started to be called Kristinestad Gymnasium. The state handed over the school building to the city without compensation because they considered that it had only been on loan since 1947 when it became a state school.
In 1986, it was decided that the gymnasium and banquet hall of the co-educational school on the upper floor would be converted into an auditorium with 120 seats. It was to be equipped with AV equipment, so that it could be used for seminars and conferences.
