Helsinki Line Dancers – venue for the classes
Classes for Helsinki Line Dancers (beginners- and other classes) in 2027 (from January to late May) are held at Vesala comprehensive school (Sakara 5, 00940 Helsinki).
Link to the venue (link opens up a Google Maps -map in a new tab). Instructions on how to arrive to the school via car, public transportation or walking are after the school introduction.
Upon arrival, no matter if you arrive via car or public transportation, find the L -door (pictured below).
In the satellite picture below, you can see more accurately where the L-door is.
Upon arrival, ring the door bell in the picture below, and someone will come and open the door for you.
The venue
We dance at Vesala comprehensive school’s gymnasium. Space we have to use is about 220 square meters.
Do note that you cannot enter the gymnasium with your outdoor footwear or black-soled shoes that leave marks on the dance floor. Outdoor footwear is to be left in the locker room. To clean the markings on the floor is a billable job and we will be charged for it if we have made any markings, so let’s all make sure we keep the place clean, including the locker rooms.
The floor is a parque floor, meant for indoor shoes, however you can bring your over the shoe placed sock with you if you want to be certain.
Locker rooms
As you enter through the outer doors, go to the left and through another door. This brings you to the door of the gymnasium, where we have our classes.
When you turn left from the gymnasium door, you see the door below. Behind the door on the right are the locker rooms.
On your right you have the unisex-locker room and further along you have the women’s locker room. Picture below is from the unisex (men’s) locker room. In both locker rooms there is a shower and toilets. You can leave your belongings in the locker room during the class.
You should not bring into the gymnasium anything else except your possible valuables and drinking bottles so that they take as little space as possible from the gymnasium. Do remember to clean after yourself when you leave the locker room! The locker rooms should be left in the same state as they were when entered into.
After the regular class you should vacate the premises quickly, as the school’s alarm systems switch on little after the classes have ended. After the alarms have been activated any movement on the premises triggers the alarm – and creates us an invoice that we will naturally charge from whoever caused the alarm to be triggered.
Accessability
Via car:
Even though Vesala comprehensive school is one of the biggest schools in Helsinki, the parking isn’t really condensed but more sporadic. Below we have compiled more info about the parking lots where you can leave your car (and also we’ll mention a few where you can leave your car at your own responsibility). The biggest parking lot (turn right on no. 5.) requires a little detour, but we’ll tell you how you can access it and we have a video telling you how to walk to the school from there. The walking time is about 5 minutes. Let us begin to get acquinted with the area’s parking!
1. Here is the school where we dance: Vesala comprehensive school. The address of the school is Sakara 5, 00940 Helsinki. In the picture below you can see the small parking lot in front of the school that can house 10-18 cars, depending on the dancers co-operativeness.
Below is a picture of Sakara -street and at the end of the street on the right (the white building) is the school. Parking on the aforementioned street is explained in more detail later on.
2. Roundabout. In the picture below, number two is a roundabout where you’ll arrive if you drive past the Sakara -street (is to the right from the spot where this picture was taken at). The significance of the roundabout is that both roads that lead from it there are parking spots for 4 hour parking. If you choose the first exit (the one leading to right diagonal), you can make your way to the Vesala excercise park’s parking lot, the biggest parking lot available in the area. But first, let’s have a look at the second exit (the one leading to left diagonal).
3. Picture below is when you take the second exit toward left diagonal. On this road (Linnoittajantie) there are sections where you can leave your car for 4 hours. You can find occasional parking spots here.
4. If you’ll take the first exit to right diagonal, you’ll continue on Kontulankaari. Despite the fact that you see 30 min parking -sign in the picture below, there are 4 hour parking spots on this road. The 30 minute parking only applied to the section in the picture that extends up to the bicycles. Also keep driving this way if you want to reach the biggest parking lot in the area.
Picture below is the same road, but driven a little while and then turn to face the direction we came from. The car approaching in the picture has gone the downhill part a little while appearing in this picture. As the picture shows, there are parking spots to leave your car in.
5. To get to the biggest parking lot, you need to turn immediately to the left when you se this sign on the right.
Below is an enlargement of the sign. Turn to right before you pass this sign, not after the sign.
As you can see from the picture below, the road doesn’t really seem like it is meant for cars. However, it is. Do note that when you drive it, drive calmly as the picture and the road sign show, children can appear on your way.
Picture taken below was taken when there was a football match, that’s why the parking lot is so crowded. Usually there are less cars on the parking lot.
So how to get to the school once you’ve parked your car? You can see it from this video (videon length is about 1 minute).
6. Also there is a small guest parking lot next to the field that fits about 10 cars. Below you can find the parking terms and conditions, so you can safely leave your car here for the evening. As this parking lot is right next to the big parking lot, from here you can get to the school like you did from the big parking lot. As a refresher, here’s the link to the video.
Turn right from here and drive to the end of the road to get to the parking lot pictured in the picture above.
Sakara-street and parking on it (officially recommended places)
1. Next to the school there is a small parking lot that can house 10-18 cars, depending on the dancers co-operativeness.
2. At the end of Sakara -road there is a small parking lot, where you might find a parking spot. There is also a parking area for trucks, but parking there is on your own responsibility.
3. In the area there is a parking lot for the residents, but on the guest spots there might be some space.
Alternatives for the parking (although officially we cannot recommend these, park there at your own responsibility)
4. Next to the school is a parking lot where you can leave your car for a few hours between 7-17 if you drop your kid off to school.
5. A parking lot for reserved spots. Most likely for the day care next to the school. Empty at night. Also note the gravel area (in the next section, number 5.)
6. Yard of the day care. During daytime there are cars parked there, but at night the area is empty.
Below is a closer look at the parking near the school, if you want to risk it.
Number explanation:
- Gate that allows you to enter areas 2. – 4. (picture below)
Driving through the gate and turning left takes you in front of the school (number 2.). Driving forward a little you can turn to right and get to the teachers parking lot (number 3.). Also, if you keep driving forward, once you are past the school, you can try to park on the left bank of the road (number 4.). Just make sure you won’t block the road completely!
Maybe the safest area to park here is number 5., the gravel field. This area is after the daycare -parking lot (earlier picture at the Sakara -street section, number 5.).
Furthermore, if you can’t find a parking spot, you can leave your car at Kontula’s Park & Ride (connection parking) and walk from there to the school.
By public transportation:
You can get to the venue via metro, bus or walking. The school is 850 meters from Kontula metro station. The closest busses to arrive to the venue are 94 and 94N and they stop at the end of Sakara street. The busses pass Kontula metro station so you can arrive to Kontula via metro, then hop on a bus and walk from the end of Sakara street to the school. Also arriving with 94 and 94N from the other direction of Kontulakaari, you’ll stop at the same spot, at the end of Sakara street. More detailed bus options, have a look at HSL’s Reittiopas -page.
See here a short video on how to arrive from Kontula metro station to the school via walking. The video begins by showing which direction to walk towards and then skips to the section out side of Kontula shopping district as filming there was a no-go. The link opens a YouTube -video that is 2 minutes long. If walking through the woods shown in the video make you nervous and you want to avoid it, there is a detoured, safer way to walk. You can find that video here (video length is 2 min 36 secs).
Something else on your mind? Feel free to contact use via our contact info (we recommend e-mail). We’ll respond to your message as soon as we can.