The pine forest in Kangasala inspires admiration

A new committee was set up to advocate the cause. The members of the committee included mr. Kilpi and mr. Ahlman from Tampere, physician dr.  Suoma af Hällström from Lempäälä, the head of the municipal board mr. Viljo Aalto from Messukylä, mason mr. V. Lunden from Kangasala, agricultural technician mr. Eetu Jussila from Orivesi, and the head of the municipal board mr. August Hyöki from Luopioinen.

The committee ordered sketched drawings for the design of the sanatorium from e.g. architect Eino Forsman, who had designed the tuberculosis hospital in Helsinki, the R building of Sibelius-Akatemia and the building of the Ostrobothnian Museum, among other things. Soon mr. Forsman presented plans for a 160-bed sanatorium. The committee divided the beds in advance: Tampere got 50 beds and the other 23 municipalities divided the remaining 110 beds among themselves.

During the winter and spring of 1928 a group consisting of three persons – af Hällström, Ahlman and Kilpi – surveyed the areas of Lempäälä, Messukylä, Kangasala, Pälkäne and Ylöjärvi searching for a location for the sanatorium. A decision was made to purchase the place in Kangasala near Pitkäahde, after a team of experts, which included the director of the National Board of Health Hannes Ryömä, architect Forsman and Licenciate of Medicine Severi Savonen, who was the secretary of the Finnish Anti-Tuberculosis Association, were convinced about the advantageous location of the site.

Sanatoriums were built in the countryside in “healthy” environments which offered clean air to breathe and a suitable amount of land for growing vegetables.

The pine forest in Kangasala was regarded as an excellent location for a sanatorium, because its air was considered particularly healthy to breathe.  It was also far away from any town and offered a lot of room for the patients to move around. A decision was made to purchase 31 hectares of land at 3,500 marks/ha and 4 hectares at 9,000 marks/ha, in other words the total price was 144, 500 marks.

The Charter of Foundation of the Central Häme Sanatorium Association (pdf-file, in Finnish)