During the past 50 years Skövde has changed a lot, and this becomes very clear when you look at old photographs – sometimes it even feels as if you are in an entirely different city! A town has to change to develop, and sometimes that means that some buildings must be torn down to leave space for new ones. When it comes to Skövde, after working with this series and looking at an infinite number of old pictures, I think that way too many houses were allowed to decay and become a victim for the excavators.
Anna Warner
During 62 years the hussars riding house was located where we today find the secondary school Helena school. The riding house was built in 1885 by the private company Skövde Ridhus AB, and when the hussars came to Skövde 1891 their educational activities were set here.
The riding house area was also used for livestock markets, and when the riding houses lost their original function in 1905 it was turned into an exhibition- and auction hall.
On April 16 1947 the stables burned down to the ground in a fierce fire caused by little boys playing with fire. Inside the building the company Melka had a temporary sewing factory at the time of the fire, and 18 000 shirts were destroyed, among other things.
The Helena school was completed in 1954.