Rebuilding Plan

Finlandia Owner Sets Sights on Reconstruction

Brad McKinnon was sitting down for dinner in Sault Ste. Marie with his family on December 22, 2021 when the call came in.

“The city building inspector [called] and he told me that there was smoke coming out the second storey of the building, out of the eaves,” says McKinnon, who is the owner of the property where the Finnish Labour Temple used to stand. “I thought it was a joke at first. I thought he was just pulling my leg.”

It was no joke. Firefighters would spend hours using water to bombard the flames that would eventually tear through the building and burst through its roof, the site too dangerous to enter. The structure, which was over a century old, was being reconfigured into apartments with plans to also reopen the iconic Hoito restaurant after McKinnon purchased the building in 2020. The organization that used to own it had voluntarily dissolved, awash in debt. The damage from the fire was so severe, the entire building would have to be demolished. “[I felt] an incredible sense of loss, anger, and frustration, and obviously a huge amount of disappointment because of all the work, time, and effort put into the project,” McKinnon says. “It still hurts looking back on the pictures and seeing it burning, smouldering, and even the tearing down. It was like going to a funeral every day.” The Office of the Fire Marshal, who stated early this year that the cause of the blaze would remain undetermined, subsequently did complete an investigation and confirmed to The Walleye that the cause has been ruled accidental. McKinnon says another two forensic investigators arrived at the same conclusion.

Despite the fire being a major setback, McKinnon says he remains committed to the project. He has finalized plans for a rebuild, which will keep, as much as possible, the design of the historic Bay Street-facing facade, including the tower and cupula. But the new building footprint will be much larger than the original—making use of the property that fronts onto Algoma Street—with up to 90 units, compared to the 16 the old structure would have housed. Commercial units (including The Hoito) will be on the main floor, with the second and third storeys dedicated to residential spaces; a partial fourth level facing Algoma Street will house four penthouse suites. The main building entrance will also be at ground level rather than the split-level design of the old building, and the restaurant will now feature a large patio out front. “The whole front face, we’re going to reconstruct it as best we can to mimic what was there, to honour the building,” McKinnon says. “I think it would be a real injustice to see this building burn down and [be] forgotten about.” Underground parking for tenants will help alleviate street congestion in the area, he adds.

A large part of honouring the Finlandia’s legacy will be reestablishing The Hoito. Both McKinnon and Paula Haapanen, the newly elected president of the Finlandia Cooperative of Thunder Bay, say the restaurant was well on its way to reopening before the fire happened. Once the appropriate space is built, the co-operative (which ratified its bylaws and elected its first

“I’d like to get the original face of the building reconstructed and that space for The Hoito ready so people can start coming and having their pancakes.”

official board in January) will be a tenant of the new building and manage the restaurant. “We’re starting from scratch,” Haapanen says. “What that means for us as far as opening The Hoito is concerned is that we’re just [...] continuing with our fundraising efforts in order to be able to now put together a restaurant from scratch, as opposed to having something there already to start with.”

The co-operative was already fundraising for things like updating some of the older equipment and new furnishings for the dining room, as well as food inventory and early staffing costs, but with practically everything consumed in the fire, Haapanen says startup costs for her organization will be higher now. To that end, the co-operative has partnered with numerous local businesses to sell unique Finlandia and Finnish-themed products like the Hoito pancake mix (with Big Lake Pasta), Kiitos coffee blend (with Rose N Crantz Roasting Company), and hoodies (with Northwest Workwear), among others. Haapanen says the co-op is also working with the Thunder Bay Finnish-Canadian Historical Society on the eventual design of the new Hoito dining space, which they’re hoping will include historical artifacts. Proceeds from a beer made by Sleeping Giant Brewing Company, called Sisu, is going towards that organization. Plans for “pop-up restaurants” around town to serve pancakes as the weather warms are also in the works, Haapanen says.

As far as McKinnon’s priorities are concerned, he says that The Hoito is right at the top. “I’d like to get the original face of the building reconstructed and that space for The Hoito ready so people can start coming and having their pancakes,” he says. “The rest of the building can wait until that’s done.” He’s also launching his own fundraiser to help with reconstruction, in partnership with The Finnish Bookstore, selling bricks from the original building that have been cleaned up and stencilled with an image of the historic structure and its dates. McKinnon adds that insurance from the fire won’t cover the total cost of the rebuild, also necessitating the larger number of units.

For Haapanen, who was not among the spectators who flocked to the Bay and Algoma neighbourhood on the night of the fire, the whole situation has been almost surreal. “I still don’t have the words to describe the feeling,” she says, but stresses that the community support and sense of cooperation among so many parties in the aftermath has been a silver lining. “The spirit of working collectively for a common goal is still there,” she says. “That still exists and that shows that it’s gone beyond […] the labour movement. It’s beyond the Finnish community. Thunder Bay has embraced this concept as their own, and that’s why I have a very good feeling about this project going forward.”