timber news 3/2009 - SCA Forest Products AB

SCA’s only chapel celebrates100 yearsSCA doesn’t only own forests, sawmills,or paper and pulp facilities. Italso owns a chapel: Ljungå chapel insouth-east Jämtland. This year, thechapel will be celebrating its centenary.Over the years, the small, red-paintedchapel has been a focal point forpeople in the district, playing hostto numerous church services, christenings,weddings and funerals. Nowadays, servicesare primarily held in the chapel’slight and airy sanctuary on major holydays.There has been a chapel in Ljungåsince 1865. Skönviks AB built the firstchapel in the village, where the companyalready had forest holdings and owned asawmill.The original chapel was destroyed in afire and replaced with a new building in1909. The new chapel was designed inStockholm by the architect Karl RudolfTeodor Arborelius. The cost of the buildingcame to SEK 6,500, excluding of thecost of timber.In 1929, Skönviks AB became part ofSCA and merged fully with the companyin 1954. Since then, Ljungå chapel hasbeen directly owned and managed bySCA.“Over the years, SCA has owned ninechurches and chapels,” says Kjell-ÅkeHermansson, head archivist at SCA. “Thereason for this lies far back in history,during the emergence of ironworks innorthern Sweden in the 17th and 18thcenturies and during the sawmill era ofthe 19th century. The aim was to satisfythe spiritual needs of the workers, withworks chapels and churches being builton the initiative of the works owners.”SCA has since gifted ownership of all itschapels and churches to the local parishes– with the exception of Ljungå chapel,which will be granted historic buildingstatus during the autumn.Photo: Per-Anders Sjöquist