Lepakko

Young people in front of the squatted Lepakko in August 1979.

Lepakko or Lepakkoluola was a place for independent youth culture in Ruoholahti, Helsinki, Finland, functioning from 1979 to 1999.

The building was mostly used for rock concerts. Many Finnish rock artists came into popular knowledge through Lepakko. Lepakko also had a sauna and on special "steam club" nights one could enjoy sauna and music. The main organiser of the activity was ELMU ry, the Live Music Association of Helsinki.

Lepakko also hosted a radio station, Radio City, from 1985 to 1999.

The name Lepakko is Finnish for bat - the shape of the logo of the paint factory that previously owned the building had resembled a bat.

History

The Lepakko building was originally a warehouse for a paint factory, built in 1940. From 1968 to 1978 it functioned as a shelter for homeless alcoholics. The City of Helsinki emptied the building in 1978.

In 1979, a group of young people and the ELMU invaded the building and negotiated with the city officials to make it a place for youth and culture. The house was at first named Lepakkoluola (Finnish for bat cave), the name was later in most occasions shortened to Lepakko.

Lepakko was demolished to make way for a new office building in 1999, despite complaints that it should be preserved as an institution and a monument of independent Finnish youth and rock culture. The City of Helsinki hired out Nosturi to ELMU as a substitute.

Currently the site is occupied by a building originally built for Nokia, but actually occupied by Ilmarinen, an insurance company. A statue depicting a bat, in a glass enclosure, is in the yard.

Further reading

• review on a book about the building in the online edition of Helsingin Sanomat (English translation from the international edition of HS)
• 30 minute report from Yle
• Helsingin Sanomat (international edition): "Holy Hermione, Robin – they're bulldozing the Batcave!"