AREFS taide ja kulttuuri ry
AREFS art and culture association
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HIIROLA - Etelä-Savo - the village
Hiirola is a small village 15 north of Mikkeli in Etelä-Savo. It has about 200
inhabitants and is part of the city of Mikkeli.
From the past the village is an agriculture and forestry community. Now a days
most people are working in the city.
The village has had an own school, but in 2014 the school is closed as part of
the reduction of the education budget. Children are now at school in Rämälä, a
village nearby.
The countryside has many old neighborhoods and people like to live in these
isolated places as they did in the past.
The infrastructure of a large and tiny populated country like Finland is
difficult and expensive.
In the 19th century, when Finland was still part of Russia, the government
started with building a railway network.
In 1889 the Savon-Rata (Savo-track) has been open for traffic. This was a great
opportunity for the people living in this area. It started to be easier to go to
the south e.g. Helsinki. The exchange through this new traffic has given the
region new impulses for economic development. These days the railway is not the
only way to travel, buses and the own car makes traveling easier and comfortable
for different kind of groups.
After a period of growth the railway got competition by the own car and the number of passengers dropped. The railway company reduces the number of trains and stops and step by step this public transport was not longer attractive for daily travel.
In the 90-ties of the 20th century the railway station has been closed for all services and the neglect started, this has stopped in 2011 when the building got a new occupant.
From 2012 the old railway station of Hiirola is being transformed into a creative environment.