The forces of nature brought down the roof of the popular dance venue. Valasranta janitor Jukka Ojala was one of the first to see the destruction.
Half of the roof of the dance venue in Valasranta came off in Monday’s storm. READER’S PHOTO
On Monday, the storm caused destruction on the Valasranta dance stage in Varsinais-Suomen Ylänee. The force of nature was so strong that, as a result of the storm damage, the events organized in the area had to be canceled and the dance season was put on hold.
The Yläne church village board was not able to estimate when the event activity can be restarted in its press release on Monday.
The janitor of the Valasranta dance stage Jukka Ojala was among the first to see the enormous destruction. He describes that he came to the place in the pouring rain, when he was faced with a barren sight.
– The fire alarms sounded the alarm. The VPK people thought they had come for a check-up, and then they noticed that the roof was full of traces of a bomb. Exploded. One half of the roof turned over on the other side, and the metal sheet flew down, Ojala describes on the phone.
According to him, the Ylänee VPK fire station was asked for additional help at the same time.
– The water was pouring down and it all got on the instruments and the performance stage. We had to drive it out with a trowel and put dozens of dishes in there to collect the water. Fortunately, the rain stopped within an hour, he blesses.
The caretaker says that the insurance company’s roof repair company visited the site quickly at the beginning of the week.
– They didn’t really understand what they came to do, let’s be honest, says Ojala with an amused tone of voice.
– The crane truck came, was and took down a bit of it (the roof), and it also disappeared from that. We told them to protect it (the roof) so that there would be no further damage, but that ended. There is nothing happening on the roof now, Ojala describes.
According to him, the place is unfit for dancing after the destruction. However, the storm did not cause any injuries.
– It is invalid until a new roof is made.
Ojala says that the remains of the old roof must be removed first. According to him, the condition of the floor must also be checked, because it wavered from the water on the night of the accident.
– This must be fixed as soon as possible, since this is an important dance venue for the people. Yes, we will fix this and dance again!