Skomårten Square - where a pink tower block met the flames, and a new hope emerges

In the center of Östersund, hidden between streets, facades and memories, is a small square that doesn't really look like a square. It lacks stately buildings, fountains and the city's typical self-consciousness. And perhaps that's why it holds one of the city's most poignant stories - of shoes, nicknames, fire, and a stubborn love of the small, the quirky and the personal.

In the 1950s, shoe retailer Sten Mårtensson ran a shop in a picturesque pink wooden house with a small tower at Prästgatan 44. It wasn't just any shop - Mårtensson turned the whole house into a kind of shoe wonderland, and his shop quickly became known by the infectious name Sko-Mårten. The house, which looked like something out of a fairy tale, was sandwiched between larger properties, but together with the neighboring houses formed a courtyard environment that was both charming and unexpected. It became a kind of backyard idyll, in the middle of the urban.

When the Domus department store was built in the 1960s, people started calling it Mårtens torg or Skomårtens torg - even though it was never officially a square. But names, as we know, do not always come from city planners. They are born in the vernacular, out of love and everyday life.

In the 2010s, the place flourished again. It was home to the delicatessen and bistro Lilla Saluhallen, as well as the Jane Doe pub, whose outdoor seating in the courtyard quickly became a favorite among both Thursday revelers and sun-seekers. Skomårten's square was small, yes - but full of life.

And so came the night of December 30, 2020.

With the help of lighter fluid and violent intent, a man set fire to the little pink house. The Jane Doe house, the Sko-Mårten house, it was called - and many people in Östersund saw it as a natural part of the city's soul. Despite the efforts of the rescue services, the house could not be saved. The fire won. What had stood there for over a century, and held thousands of conversations, beers, laughter, shoe decisions and everyday poetry, turned to ash. No one was hurt, but a piece of Östersund went up in smoke.

The loss stung. But the city rose up.

The site was empty - but not forgotten. The property owner opened up to new ideas. Meanwhile, the square began to breathe in new ways. In spring 2021, a huge mural was painted on the wall of a nearby building, a portrait of the lost house created by artist KAPE, who had strong memories of the place himself. A piece of the Grand Hotel's original tower - from 1888 - was restored and placed in the square as a work of art. Colorful murals spread along the facades as if the whole place was trying to remember, and at the same time look forward.

Today, Skomårten Square is in constant transformation. It is a place for pop-up markets, conversations, coffee in the sun and music under the open sky. Lilla Saluhallen, Jazzköket and other neighbors use the space for catering and small events. There is talk of building something new - something that will be "unique to Östersund", but which will still be based on the soul of the old tower house.

Maybe it will be a new gem. Maybe it will be a new living room for the city. But whatever is built next, Skomårten Square will always bear traces of the past - shoes, laughter, fire and stubborn love for the little house that refused to be forgotten.

Photos provided by Föreningen Gamla Östersund