The building on Prorizniy Street is a landmark of Kyiv architecture that cannot be demolished

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She also added that the Department of Land Resources of the KMDA submitted a request to them. The Department for the Protection of Cultural Heritage then gave an answer: the building at Proriznaya, 25A is included in the list of objects of cultural heritage, as are the sights on Proriznaya and Volodymyrska Streets. Therefore, all objects from this area are not subject to reconstruction, but must be restored.

Outbuilding of the Gruber Manor, built in 1882. Photo: Dmytro Perov

How the building will look from 2019. Photo: Dmytro Perov

Also, the director of the Department of Cultural Heritage added that they asked the Land Commission not to consider the issue of reconstruction on Proriznaya.

“The Department of Land Resources did not hear us, the deputies did not pay attention to our position. I believe that all buildings that are landmarks should be restored. Regardless of the form of ownership of this object. Any owner must act within the law and must restore the building he ownsSolovyova added.

Scandal with the house on Proriznaya

On November 1, activists of the “Tsegla” community reported that the Land Commission of the KMDA handed over the wing of the Gruber Manor for demolition. At that time, the members of the commission considered the transfer of the land plot at 25A Prorizna Street for reconstruction. A four-story office center with underground parking, shops and restaurants was planned to be built on the site of the monument.

Activists who came under the Kyiv City Council building. Photo: Brick

The very next day, November 2, the commission supported the destruction of the building. In his social networks, he is a defender of architectural monuments and the first deputy director of the Department of Cultural Heritage Protection Dmytro Perov wrote how the deputies spoke about the project, in particular the deputy of the Kyiv City Council Serhiy Krymchak: “you know, today it has become very fashionable to give statuses [памʼяток] to the right and to the left… please support the draft decision“.

At the same time, Tsegla activists reported that people started gathering under the KMDA building, who spoke against the demolition of the architectural monument. In 6 hours, the project to reconstruct the wing of the Gruber Manor was withdrawn from consideration.

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In the comment for UP Culture Dmytro Perov spoke about the history of the building of the wing of the Gruber Manor. The building was built according to the project of the Ukrainian architect Oleksandr Kryvosheev, who in 1887-1913 held the position of the city architect of Kyiv.

In Soviet times, the three-story outbuilding was equipped with communal apartments, and on the first floor there were establishments that provided household services: clothing and furniture repair, hairdressing services, laundry, etc. Already in the years of independence, the building was privatized.

Since 2003, the Kyiv City Council changed the category of the outbuilding from residential to non-residential, and then the building functioned as an office space.

In 2019, office tenants began to be evicted. At the height of the 2020 pandemic, the wing of Gruber Manor was hung with construction cloth and closed with an advertising banner, which still covers the building.

“Even earlier, in 2012-2013, the same fate awaited the main building of the Gruber manor, at 27 Prorizniy St. (corner of Volodymyrska St.). The building at the corner of two streets was hung with advertising, and then systematically – opened the roof, dismantled the internal ceilings and in the end – only the front walls were left. Apparently, the same fate awaits the wing at No. 25a, which they now want to transfer to a new building.” – said Perov.

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