R. Minnikhanov and I. Metshin visited the opening of a new ice rink on the “Chernoe Ozero”

(KZN.RU, December 25, Ekaterina Vislavskaya). Today, a Christmas tree and an ice rink on the reconstructed lake opened in the park “Chernoe Ozero”. Rustam Minnikhanov, President of the RT, and Ilsur Metshin, the Mayor of Kazan, who took part in the opening, congratulated the citizens on the coming New Year and tried the ice.

The ice rink is poured into the bowl of the lake, there are a rental office and a cafe next to it. Fences are installed across the perimeter of the ice rink with an area of 6.5 thousand square meters, and wooden stage at the main descent to the ice rink, on which you can rest or put on skates. In honor of the opening on the rink, skaters from the synchronized skating team “Idel”, vocalists from the Academy of Popular Music of Igor Krutoy, and other artists came to the event.

“Kazan's favorite place, the Chernoe Ozero, comes back renewed on the eve of the New Year. I am very happy and I want to thank the Directorate of Parks and Squares, investors, and all residents of Kazan for their love of the city”, noted the Mayor during the opening ceremony.

The President of the RT and the Mayor of Kazan inspected the park, congratulated the children who came to the holiday, the New Year, put on skates, and tried the ice. According to Ilsur Metshin, the ice rink is of high quality and it’s good for playing hockey.

The same evening the New Year's town opened in the park “Chernoe Ozero” with its two main attractions: a 12-meter long Christmas tree and an art object in the form of a chandelier. Performances from the theatrical laboratory “Ugol” and the Petersburg theater “shuMim”, a children's play under the open sky “Busy Beaver”, and a show with Ded Moroz and Snow Maiden took place right in the park.

The park “Chernoe Ozero” and the Leninsky Garden are monuments of landscape architecture of the XVIII-XIX centuries of regional importance and are considered one of the oldest parks of Kazan. Its reconstruction began in 2015 within the framework of the republican program and takes place in several stages. In 2018, there will be a reconstruction of the restaurant and the rental building. All works are coordinated with the Ministry of Culture of the RT.

“We understand that such an active program in the parks will attract the attention of citizens. Firstly, because once the parks are decorated and transformed, people immediately come there. It's great. And we are sure that the number of visitors to the park during the New Year holidays will approach 100 thousand people”, said Alsu Karyakina, the head of the Directorate of Parks and Squares.

Natalia Fishman, an assistant to the President of the RT, Damir Fattakhov, the first deputy head of the Kazan Executive Committee, Andrey Lobov, the head of the Vakhitovsky and Privolzhsky districts’ administration, and others took part in the event.

On New Year's Eve from December 31 to January 1, the rink will run until 3 am. An entertainment program with contests and jokes was prepared for citizens, who decided to celebrate the New Year on ice. An interactive exhibition about the life of Leo Tolstoy in Kazan will be in the park during the New Year holidays. On December 29, the theater group Remue Menage (France) will perform at the “Chernoe Ozero”, on January 2, the theater of clownery “High Brothers” will perform. On January 3-8 – the New Year's family play “O”, on January 4 – the disco on the ice, on January 5 and 7 – master classes at the rink. The “Chernoe Ozero” will be the main Kazan venue for events within the Year of the Theater in Russia and the Year of Leo Tolstoy in Tatarstan.