The famous pilots will be memorialized during the overhaul of the yard on Gagarin Street in Kazan

(KZN.RU, October 9, Ksenia Shvetsova). Andrey Belyakov from Kazan acted as an investor in the improvement of the whole yard in the Moskovsky district near the houses №103, 105, and 107 on Gagarin Street. The project of improvement under the name “Ya Vybirayu Nebo” (Rus. “I choose the sky”) on a voluntary basis is developed by Zhanna Belitskaya, the chief artist of Kazan. Ilsur Metshin, the Mayor of Kazan, visited the yard where many legendary test pilots lived and called this initiative a new round of the yard overhaul program.

Zhanna Belitskaya and Andrey Belyakov have been neighbors since childhood. Now Andrey Belyakov heads the construction company OOO “Briz”. “It's time to pay tribute to my yard where I grew up. Since my birth, I lived in the house №103”, said A. Belyakov. “The work began in September, this is the right time to plant trees. We want to build a good playground, install small architectural forms, and lay a rubber coating. Now we are carrying out asphalting of the tracks along the paths to the school, the polyclinic”. The work is planned to be completed for the May holidays.

Many people, whose names are connected with the history of Kazan and Russia lived in Stalin-era building (Stalinkas) adjacent to this yard. Colonel Boris Mashkovtsev, an Honored Test Pilot of the USSR, Test Pilot of the Kazan Aviation Plant, Hero of the Soviet Union; Nikolay Gubin, the Test Pilot of the 1st rang; retired Colonel Ernst Mazin, a military representative of the customer of the KAPA, Air Force military representative for the TASSR; Samat Khisamutdinov, the KAPA chief engineer; Georgy Karunin, the KMPO design engineer, first secretary of the Leninsky district; Mikhail Edelman, the deputy general director for procurement at the KAPA; and others are among them. But the most famous resident was Vasily Stalin, the youngest son of Joseph Stalin, an Air Force Lieutenant General.

That is why the aviation theme was chosen as the main one in the improvement. The name “Ya Vybirayu Nebo” coincides with the large-scale aviation show that has been loved by all residents of the city, which for the second year takes place over the Kazanka River near the Family Center “Kazan” and gathers tens of thousands of spectators. Moreover, this idea was the impetus for the city project “Legendy Moego Dvora” (Rus. “Legends of My Yard”). According to Z. Belitskaya, there are a lot of such yards in Kazan. For example, it is planned to improve the yard where the actress Chulpan Khamatova grew up.

“When a yard has a name, it’s not faceless. In this case, it is much easier to organize the space and place the artillery objects”, explained Zh. Belitskaya. “We want to perpetuate the memory of those people who lived there and raised aircraft in the postwar years. I think that there will be signs in the form of tags that the pilots had. So that they do not forget the story and want to learn more”.

According to the draft, much in the yard will remain unchanged. For example, a large flowerbed and a retro bench where famous residents of the yard once rested. A convenient parking will be built in the yard.

Local residents took an active part in the discussion of the project, noted Zh. Belitskaya. “Playgrounds, all the paths, plants were discussed with the residents of the houses. We will have a green yard, which we will decorate with the involvement of people. For example, we plan to work closely with students on filling the public garden with artillery objects”, she said.

The Mayor appreciated the idea of landscaping the yard in a single theme. “This is a legendary yard. Historical figures, dear, honored people who have made a huge contribution to the aviation industry of the country lived here”, said Ilsur Metshin. “I like the idea of the project. We used to be happy about a simple overhaul of the yard. But now, thanks to the initiative of the residents and our colleagues, not only the landscaping will be carried out, but the history of the city, our enterprises, and our country will be immortalized”.

The head of the city talked to the students of the school №75, who came to plant trees in the framework of the “Lesson of Good”. “What outstanding people lived and live in this yard! Guys, you have someone to look up to, like Andrey Belyakov, who grew up here”, said I. Metshin and urged the children to never forget their roots and love their hometown.

The landscaping occupies an important place in the improvement project. Earlier, the yard was planted with weed trees. In the course of the work, all dry and weed trees were cut down. Now, the territory will be decorated with new large trees with the height of 3 meters. Lime alley, which was in the yard for a long time, will be planted. In addition, there will be rowan, maple, and poplar alleys.

Sergey Mironov, the head of the Kirovsky and Moskovsky districts’ administration, said that the trees are planted according to a well-developed dendro-plan. During the landscaping of the yard, it is planned to build a new container platform for separate garbage collection following the example of the yard at Dekabristov Street. “The terms are short. The main highways will be covered in the autumn. We would just have to plant trees and flowers, see whether they have taken root. We are thinking over the concept so that residents of the yard and schoolchildren can learn the history of those who lived here. We want to finish everything by the beginning of May”, said S. Mironov.

One of the local residents that has been living in one of the nearby houses since 1970 told the Mayor that the improvement project reflects the long-awaited dreams of all his neighbors. I. Metshin promised to come again in May to the yard holiday in order to assess the results of the work carried out.

Igor Kulyazhev, the deputy head the chairman of the Committee for External Improvement, Dmitry Anisimov, the chairman of the Housing and Utility Services Committee, representatives of the management company of the Moskovsky district, and others also attended the inspection.