Voka during the Soviet era

Today's Voka town was largely built during the Soviet period, with two enterprises being its builders – the "Estonian Agricultural Machinery" (EPT) cooperative of Kohtla-Järve district and the collective farm "Kaljurand".

Essentially, the settlement, built on practically empty land, was intended for the accommodation of employees of these institutions. Since such enterprises were new in those times, entirely new settlements were often built for their operation. Previously, fields stretched over the site of Voka town, with the former post station complex located along the old Tallinn-Narva highway (today, the town street runs in the same direction as Narva Road), and scattered farms dotted the fields. Separated, the Voka manor complex with its park stood on the high coast by the sea.

The Kohtla-Järve EPT (locally known as Voka EPT according to its location) began in 1949 when the former post station complex was established as the Vaivara Machine-Tractor Station (MTJ). In 1958, it was reorganized into a Repair and Technical Station (RTJ), which in turn became the local branch of the "Estonian Agricultural Machinery" republican cooperative when it was established in 1961. The EPT primarily dealt with supplying agricultural machinery and materials to agricultural enterprises, as well as performing land reclamation, producing peat, servicing livestock farms in terms of equipment, etc.

The collective farm "Kaljurand" was also founded in 1949, and soon its center moved to the former Voka manor complex located about 1 km away from the post station.

In addition to production buildings, housing for employees also needed to be built. The first houses in Voka can be considered the small residential area with Finnish-style barracks constructed in the area of today's Välja and Aia streets, which were built during the Vaivara MTJ period. In addition to the barracks, two more substantial dormitory buildings (Aia 2 and 4) were erected there.

The first joint planning scheme for the two enterprises' common settlement was drawn up in 1954, which envisaged the central settlement of the "Kaljurand" collective farm to be built in Voka village, around the intersection of the old Tallinn-Narva highway and the road leading to Toila. The main square of the settlement was planned in front of the old Voka schoolhouse. The MTJ settlement, on the other hand, was to expand around the existing area with Finnish-style houses. In the long term, the amalgamation of settlements was envisaged, with the residential area expanding between these settlements on both sides of the old road, where fields now lie. The area of today's apartment buildings was intended to remain as agricultural and forest land. However, these plans were not realized.

As the area of the old Finnish-style houses began to encroach on the rapidly growing production area of the EPT, the construction of the settlement concentrated along the old Narva highway from the 1960s onwards. The first three "Khrushchyovka" type apartment buildings (Narva Road 9, 11, and 13) were erected here, opposite the old post station. Soon, more modern projects were added, such as the apartment buildings on Narva Road 7 and Männiku Street, and in the 1980s, a group of apartment buildings was built on Tiigi Street along with a dormitory.

In 1973, the Voka reservoir (locally known as the pond) was expanded and cleaned, and during the same decade, largely, "Kaljurand" and EPT row houses were built nearby. Part of the "Kaljurand" housing estate was also located in the section buildings on Tiigi Street and on Narva Road. Larger public buildings such as the club (built from the old horse stable) in 1969, 1971, a shop-canteen in 1970, and the EPT utility building-office in 1983 were completed along Narva Road. On the peninsula of the reservoir, a new kindergarten building was erected in 1976, and a stadium with a sports center was built on the eastern shore of the reservoir in 1980. "Kaljurand" also got a new office (1982), new production buildings were constructed, and the remaining buildings from the Voka manor complex were diligently renovated for its purposes. In 1977, the Voka settlement that had developed around the post office and the Voka settlement around the manor were merged, and the new united settlement officially obtained town status.

From 1970 until the withdrawal of forces, the Soviet army's anti-aircraft missile division No. 96423-L (known as the Voka missile base) was located in the Voka forest.

The construction of the settlement was carried out according to the planning schemes developed by the "Estonian Rural Planning Project" in 1967 and 1981. In general, most of the solutions from both plans were implemented. In 1967, Voka had 400 inhabitants, and according to the first planning scheme, the population was expected to increase to 1000 by 1980. In 1981, Voka had 900 inhabitants, and according to the planning, the population was expected to increase to 1400 by the end of the accounting period in 2005. At the time of the restoration of the Republic of Estonia, Voka had 1300 inhabitants.

With the arrival of new circumstances in the early 1990s, the construction of the Voka settlement was interrupted. The last apartment building was completed here in 1993 (Narva Road 1). The new club building, a multifunctional sports complex with a swimming pool, a cultural and medical center, a ski sports base, additional shop buildings, an extension of the kindergarten, several section houses, and an increase in individual houses in the settlement were left unbuilt.

Author: Madis Tuuder, translated with ChatGPT