The area was built during the time Finland was a grand duchy of the Russian Empire. Finnish troops were disbanded during the Russification of Finland and the barracks area was filled with Russian troops.
The Russians built bases across Finland, with the objective of shoring up defence and securing the important railway connection that traversed southern Finland. Red-brick buildings that resembled the barracks buildings of Kouvola began to represent the garrison architecture of the era.
Over the years, the grounds have been home to various military units. The 1950s and 1960s saw the construction of a canteen, new barracks and a hospital. Conscript training came to an end in 1991, when the City of Kouvola bought the grounds. By that time, some 100,000 conscripts had left the area with discharge papers in their pocket. Nowadays, the former barracks area is home to a business development centre and the campus of a university of applied sciences.