The Finnish Labour Temple and the Hoito could go to new owners.
The newly-formed Finlandia Co-operative of Thunder Bay is fundraising to buy the Finlandia Association’s assets, which would also include the Tapiola ski area.
Last week, the Association announced they would be selling their assets to pay off over $1-million in debt. On Friday, Co-operative interim board member Lyndsay Williams started a GoFundMe page that has since raised over $11,000.
Co-operative spokesperson Heleena Stephens says if enough people and organizations are interested in joining them, they hope to re-structure the Hoito and Finnish Labour Temple as a “multi-stakeholder” co-operative. She explains the membership would “hold each other accountable, and really involve everybody in all of the processes” of running the properties.
“It was always open to a lot of the members of the community, but this opens it up to the very big, diverse population of Thunder bay that find and use the hall as a landmark, to join us here on the ground floor,” she explains.
She says while their group may be new, the Hoito was run as a co-op from its founding in 1918 to 1974.
A statement by the interim board says if successful, the space could be used for “more diverse cultural, artistic, historical and educational activities.”
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