Alfred Finnila

Alfred Finnila (1913-2001) was an American civil engineer, born and raised in San Francisco, California in USA.
Roots and early life
In 1902, Alfred Finnila's father Matti Finnila (Finnish spelling: Finnilä) immigrated from Kalajoki, Finland to Los Angeles, California, sponsored by his brother, who owned a baking oven manufacturing business in Los Angeles. Matti's brother wrote a book called Moneyless Society. In Los Angeles, Matti Finnila attended classes to learn English and to learn the skill of bricklaying. In 1906, the San Francisco earthquake inspired Matti Finnila to move to San Francisco, to help rebuild the city.
In a Finnish gathering in San Francisco, Matti Finnila met Alexandra (Sandra) Lantta from Ullava, Finland. The couple married and settled to live in San Francisco's heavily Finnish-populated Castro District. Matti became a contractor in bricklaying work and in early 1910s opened a Finnish-style sauna club for public. The club became known as Finnila's Finnish Baths. Matti and Alexandra Finnila had a son Alfred Finnila in 1913 and a daughter Edna Finnila in 1916 (later Edna Jeffrey - the author of the novel Till I'm with You Again).
In 1919, the Finnila family opened a new bathhouse at 4032 17th Street, a half block west from the busy Castro Street. The Finnila family owned the entire 3-4 floor building, where separate ladies' and mens sauna and massage facilities were embedded in the basement. In 1932, the Finnila family finished constructing a new Finnila's Finnish Baths bathhouse building on Market Street in San Francisco, about the same time when Alfred Finnila had began attending civil engineering classes at University of California, Berkeley.
From 1932 to 1937, Alfred Finnila participated in the construction work of Golden Gate Bridge. In 1937, Alfred Finnila graduated from UC Berkeley. He now launched a geothermal drilling business, designed to explore for hot water and oil resources, mainly in the states of California and Nevada. Alfred Finnila soon also took charge of Finnila's Finnish Baths from his parents, and - among his other activities - he continued in charge of that business until the final shut-down of in 2001. Alfred Finnila's sister Edna Jeffrey was the co-owner of Finnila's Finnish Baths building on Market Street, and she - together with other family members - today remains a co-owner of the new Market & Noe Center building constructed in place of the old bathhouse.
4. After having served customers for over seven decades in the San Francisco's Castro District, the fourth and - so far - final location of Finnila's, Finnila's Health Club, opened for the general public in 1986 at 645 Taraval Street in the San Francisco's Sunset District. Hereafter, Finnila's was open only for women. The services included sauna-bathing, massage, aerobics and other health-related services. In 2001, due to the old age of Alfred Finnila, Finnila's Health Club was shut down.
Alfred Finnila in construction of Golden Gate Bridge
In 1932, the construction of the new Finnila's bathhouse on Market Street had been brought to conclusion. The bricklaying company of Matti Finnila had been in charge of laying a few hundred thousand bricks to the framework of the building. Alfred Finnila, Matti's son, had received much hands-on experience on how to
bend medal and how to solve practical construction problems.
This experience came in handy, as in 1932, Alfred Finnila began civil engineering studies at University of California, Berkeley. To pay for his schooling and to add on his engineering skills, Alfred signed for a job as a time-keeper at the Golden Gate Bridge construction site. The building of the bridge began on January 5, 1933.
In 1937, the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge was brought to an end, and Alfred Finnila graduated from UC Berkeley the same year. Before that, Alfred had been promoted from his job as a time-keeper to the rank of assistant civil engineer of California. At the bridge work, Alfred Finnila had become the chief engineer in charge of all the bridge's ironing work and half of its road work.
Among many of his accomplishments at the Golden Gate Bridge construction work, Alfred Finnila designed the world famous Bridge Round House diner which opened in 1938 at the southeastern end of Golden Gate Bridge, adjacent to the tourist plaza which was renovated in 2012. Bridge Round House became the all time busiest San Francisco Bay Area restaurant, before it was turned to an unofficial gift shop and a visitor center. Thereafter, Bridge Round House served for a long time as a starting point for countless San Francisco Bay Area tours. In 2012, a renovation work of Bridge Round House was completed and it was revealed as a suave Art Deco treat - a diner -, as Alfred Finnila had designed it. The gift shop was removed as a new, official gift shop has been included in the adjacent plaza renovations.
Following the brige work, Alfred Finnila established, owned and ran for several decades a geothermal drilling business, designed to explore for water and oil resources, mainly in the states of California and Nevada.
Finnila's in a novel by Stevanne Auerbach
'The Contest' is a novel by Stevanne Auerbach, Ph.D. Among other things, the book discusses Finnila's Finnish Baths.
The part of the Larkspur Landing area sold to the City of Larkspur was used as a major Marin County ferry terminal, is today known both as Larkspur Landing and as Larkspur Ferry Terminal.
Dirty Harry filmatization
Director Don Siegel filmed the final scenes of the 1971 movie Dirty Harry on the area of Larkspur Landing and at the adjacent East Sir Francis Drake Boulevard. After hijacking a school bus, the character of - played by Andy Robinson - drives into East Sir Francis Drake Boulevard at the Greenbrae interchange, before crashing into the site of the Hutchinson Company quarry. During the filming of Dirty Harry, the movie crew, including the actor Clint Eastwood, visited Finnila's Finnish Baths - the health club owned by Alfred Finnila in San Francisco - for sauna bathing and for massage.

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