The Home for the Elderly, located in the Enskededalen district in Stockholm, will be converted into homes for new arrivals, after the Work Environment Authority surprisingly found that the over-a-century-old building is no longer fit to house seniors, the Stockholm Direkt news portal reported.
Located in a quiet locality consisting mostly of detached housing built as a "garden city," the Home for the Elderly was established in 1895 and has since served as a retirement home. Due to the Work Environment Authority's decision, the home will be partially transformed to 60 so-called "temporary residences" for newly arrived immigrant families, for whom the municipality deemed the premises perfectly fit.
"The need for resettlement housing for new arrivals is considerable, and we are constantly working on reviewing premises that may be used as temporary housing, and now is the time," Anna Mölgård, City Housing Coordinator for New Arrivals told Stockholm Direkt.
In the aftermath of the decision, some of the elderly will be moved to the so-called A House, which will continue to serve as retirement home, whereas others will be moved to other care centers in Stockholm. The B House, however, will be emptied by March 31. Once the preparatory work is completed, the new arrivals will move in.
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In the comments field at Stockholm Direkt, user Eslisabeth asked rhetorically where the limit for how long is considered a "new arrival" goes and when those who elect to come to Sweden start taking their own responsibility for their lives.
"Strange how there are never money shortages for converting something to migrant accommodations, but when it applies to the elderly or the sick, money is somehow always missing. In this case, the money seems to have been missing since 1961," user Herr Nilsson tweeted.
User Projekt Morpheus pointed out that there was a kindergarten located on the same plot, to which user Charles Lådwin sarcasically tweeted "Perfect. The kindergarten will supply the accommodation with nubile girls."
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The Home for the Elderly dates back to 1895 and was initially opened for "pauvres honteux" or the "shamefully poor," a French term for people of distinction who have fallen into insolvency. The main building was opened in 1911, followed by an extension in 1961. It has over 100 residents, both men and women. Enskededalen is a tiny municipality of over 2,000 inhabitants, developed in the early 1900s as a "garden city."
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Dagens bild. Årets andra bild. #Stockholm #Enskededalen pic.twitter.com/KUJJjJqo3G
— Magnus — Motbild.Se 🇸🇪 (@Magnus_Berg) January 14, 2017
