The renovation of Strömberg Park in Pitäjänmäki involved renewing pathways and lighting and adding new picnic and seating areas. In addition to this, the yard area and equipment of the playground in the park were renovated. The park will also gain over a hundred new park trees, perennials and shrubs. The last trees will be planted next spring.
Strömberg Park is characterised by the river Mätäjoki running through it and a three-metre-high waterfall. During the renovation, old dams in Mätäjoki were dismantled and a new fishway to bypass the waterfall was built in the park. In addition to this, the adjacent Puropuistikko basin was dredged.
Removing barriers to migration has already paid off
The restoration work carried out in Strömberg Park will allow the rare sea trout and other fish to migrate freely up to the headwaters of the river Mätäjoki. At the same time, the spawning and nursery areas for trout were significantly expanded and improved.
The work is already reflected in trout sightings.
"This autumn, large migratory trout were observed spawning in the upper reaches of the river. A total of approximately 60 trout spawning nests have been found in the whole Mätäjoki area, which is a clear improvement when compared to previous years. These findings show that the construction of the fishway and other restoration measures have produced rapid results. The trout population in Mätäjoki is expected to continue to strengthen in the coming years,” says Henrik Kettunen, a trout expert from the City of Helsinki.
Trout fry have been found in abundance
It was feared that trout fry in the Mätäjoki river had been severely impacted by a mistake made at the renovation site in April. The renovation involved building three water filtering dams along Mätäjoki for the duration of the work, and one of them was mistakenly built on top of trout spawning nests.
However, an electrofishing survey showed that there were very large numbers of spring-hatched trout fry below the dam site. Their numbers in Mätäjoki had even increased since the previous year's surveys. One of the reasons for the smaller than expected impact could be that when the eggs were covered by the dam, the spawning was still in the eyed egg stage deep within the gravel cover.
An electrofishing survey is a method that can be used to survey the number of young fish in an area without harming them. The City of Helsinki commissioned the survey from Kala- ja vesitutkimus Oy in September.
The renovated park offers seating along the river
Strömberg Park, which was once part of the Tali Manor estate, is notable in terms of both its natural assets and its cultural-historical value.
“It's great that we were able to renovate the valuable park and turn it into a wonderful and pleasant place for the city's residents to spend time in. The design makes great use of the riverbank for the placement of the seating areas,” says Project Director Minni Karjalainen from the City of Helsinki.
The work started in April and was completed well ahead of schedule before Christmas. Originally, work on the playground was not due to be completed until August 2026. The park is still set to undergo some minor finishing touches during the spring. The contractor was Tieluiska Oy.
