(KZN.RU, January 28). Today, Tatiana Prokofyeva, the chief architect of Kazan, reported on the progress of the restoration of objects in the historic center of the city at the Business Monday.
The register of the cultural heritage of Kazan consists of 563 objects, 119 of which are of federal significance, 376 are regional, and 68 are local. At the same time, 10 objects of cultural heritage were taken under protection in 2018, while in 2017, there were only 4 ones.
Among the most significant objects, T. Prokofieva noted the reconstruction of the quarter at the intersection of streets Mardzhani and Sultan, which has been underway since 2016. In 2018, the owner completely recreated the house of Bikmukhametov built in 1883 on Mardzhani Street, №10. Now the building houses a restaurant complex. In the near future, it is expected to re-create the house №12 on Mardzhani Street.
The work is continuing on the restoration of the bread market complex on Profsoyuznaya Street. “Here it is necessary not only to restore the buildings, but to carry out a quality improvement of the yard space from Bauman Street with its further inclusion into the tourist routes objects. Unfortunately, the heating main in the yard is a serious deterrent to the implementation of these intentions”, said the chief architect of the city.
In addition, the shops building of the merchant Kurmanaev, rebuilt in 1961 under the cinema “Sputnik”, will acquire the original look by the fourth quarter of this year. The frame of the building is completed, the exterior walls and the street staircase along the facade on Chernyshevsky Street are recreated.
“It is obvious that in recent years a lot of work has been done in preserving the historical heritage. But at the same time, I want to draw attention to the fact that during the preparation of the city for the Universiade 2013, many monuments were put in order only outside. Unfortunately, we can still see beautiful, but empty historic buildings. It is a pity that they are not included in the life of the city”, noted T. Prokofieva.
Ilsur Metshin, the Mayor of Kazan, highly appreciated the work done. Speaking about the functional filling of historic buildings, he noted that restoring only the appearance of objects to the city does not bring any profit. “Unfortunately, the economy is first and foremost important for businessmen. Let's hope it will be solved. Everything needs time”, marked the Mayor.
The Mayor also reminded about several objects, with the restoration of which there were many difficulties. “We have had a hard time with the house on Pushkin Street. Media wrote a lot about it, we paid special attention to this, the President of the RT put this question on his commission several times. Finally, it is done. The building of the former cinema “Sputnik” changed several owners and, finally, comes to a very decent state. Life returned to the house of Fuchs, although at one time it seemed to be a very difficult task. It is good that the work continues and it is systematic. We still have a lot of works in the historical center of Kazan, but there are fewer ruins”, said I. Metshin.
In 2018, on behalf of the President of the RT, the development of a concept for the sustainable development of the historical settlement of Kazan began under the supervision of Olesya Baltusova, an assistant to the President of the RT. Experts from the Research and Design Institute of the General Plan of Moscow, the Higher School of Economics, the Center for Applied Urban Planning, concerned citizens of Kazan, architects, urbanists, experts in the field of monument protection, students and teachers of the architectural and construction university are involved in the work.
“The essence of the work is to form a vision of the development of the historical center, taking into account the opinions of experts, officials, investors, citizens, and other concerned parties. Completion of work is expected by early 2020”, reported T. Prokofieva.
“Due to the complexity of designing new buildings in the center of Kazan, this work will help architects and owners who have construction intentions within the boundaries of the historic center to make decisions, taking into account the unique architectural and town-planning features of our city”, explained the chief architect of the city. Ilsur Metshin noted that the new concept will also meet the needs of the Executive Committee. “It will free us from manual control for each individual object”, marked the Mayor.
As it became known during the meeting, the owner of the mall “Koltso” decided to develop a project for the reconstruction of the building on a competitive basis. Currently, with the participation of specialists from the Office of Architecture and members of the Urban Planning Council, the competition regulations and terms of reference are being prepared and will be published after approval.
“It is important that the center has changed. Citizens and our guests see it, so the work will be continued. It will be systematic, and we pay special attention to this. In addition, we are learning to work with architectural competitions. For the reconstruction of the “Koltso”, which we are all waiting for, the owners decided to make an open architectural competition with the involvement of the public, experts and choose a new project among the best”, said I. Metshin.