From arch to metal fence: The controversial decision of three Mykolaiv cultural workers

On 10 March, the arch leading to the central alley of the children's town «Kazka» was dismantled, Photo: NikVesti

It has become known who and on what grounds decided to destroy one of the entrance arches leading to the central alley in the municipal children's town «Kazka» in Mykolaiv.

The response to an information request by the online media outlet NikVesti shows that the decision to demolish was made by three employees of the city's culture department, including:

• Interim director Ihor Pronin (he is also the liquidator of the municipal institution Children's Town «Karka», as the legal entity is in a state of termination);
• Hennadii Dzheniuk, the town's manager;
• Oleh Volynskyi, a specialist of the methodological centre of the Department of Culture.

At the same time, not a single representative of the property owner, the territorial community of Mykolaiv, for example, represented by employees of the municipal property department of the Mykolaiv City Council or a delegated deputy, was involved in deciding the fate of the entrance arch.

Response to the information request of NikVesti

Response to the information request of NikVesti

On 4 March, as part of the commission, they examined the arch and drew up a defective act, in which they signed that the structure could not be restored, so it must be completely dismantled. On the basis of the defective act, as stated in the response to the information request, the so-called «working group of the Children's Town «Kazka» demolished the structure.

An agreement was also concluded between «Kazka» and the individual entrepreneur O.O. Skrypin, on the basis of which he removed the construction waste. At the same time, the management of the children's town and the mayor's office of Mykolaiv do not have information on where the entrepreneur took the construction waste left after the demolition of the structure.

«There is no information on the place of removal of construction waste», said NikVesti Deputy Mayor for Humanitarian Affairs Anatolii Petrov.

Problems with documents

The defect report, which is at the disposal of the editorial office and on the basis of which the dismantling took place, does not describe any damage or structural elements of the arch.

There is no information about possible cracks, corrosion, deformation, subsidence, which should have been described in detail in such a document.

The only thing noted by the commission of three cultural workers «...has undergone changes over the past six months that indicate the impossibility of further operation...».

Advertising

This statement looks like a value judgement and a general statement without any evidence.

The act does not contain any appendices, photographs or technical justification or conclusions of the engineer. There is no table, diagram or list of defective components and structures.

The document also contains no mention of the inspection methods or tools used by the employees of the municipal institution and the Department of Culture of the Mykolaiv City Council.

The defect report completely lacks any measurements of the inspections carried out, any mention of the extent of the damage and its degree of emergency. The only metric in this document is the phrase «...over the past six months».

A defective act that does not contain a single defect

The document drawn up by the cultural workers is called «Defective technical condition act», although in practice such documents are usually separated:

• First, the commission conducts a technical inspection and draws up «Technical inspection act» or «Report on the results of the technical inspection».
• And only then, in accordance with the Estimated Norms of Ukraine approved by the Ministry of Community and Territorial Development, a «Defective Act» is drawn up.

The report on the results of the technical inspection usually contains information on the condition of the facility's structures, their degree of emergency, a description of the main defects: cracks, deformations, corrosion of reinforcement, delamination, mechanical damage, soaking, etc. The report is always accompanied by photographs of the inspection results, diagrams and drawings, information on the level of qualification of the experts who prepared it, as well as conclusions for further operation and decision-making regarding the facility.

The defect report, in turn, contains a detailed description of each defect or damage, its location (i.e., specifying a specific location or area), the causes of the defects (if possible), an assessment of the level of danger, and photographs confirming the above.

Below are examples of a report on the results of a technical inspection of a school in Chernihiv, as well as a sample form of the Defective Act.

Example of a report on the results of a technical inspection

Example of a defect report

Copyright on «Kazka»

The «Kazka» children's town in Mykolaiv was designed in the early 1980s and opened on 19 May 1982. The chief architect of the project was Vadym Popov, who won a creative competition to design the complex. His wife, Olha Popova, also took an active part in the development of the town's concept, including the choice of architectural solutions and space planning. Together, they created a unique architectural and artistic ensemble that combines elements of fairy tales and legends, turning the former market area into a space for children's recreation.

Vadym Popov, architect «Fairy Tales»

The town was created as an innovative complex for children, which included architectural forms that reflected various fairy tale plots. The architectural project was implemented with the participation of specialists from the «Giprograd» institute (now «DIPROMISTO»), as well as many local artists and sculptors. Thanks to the creative approach of Vadym and Olha, «Kazka» became the first children's town of this scale in Ukraine to combine architecture and opportunities for active children's leisure.

The children's town «Kazka» is an architectural work that is subject to copyright protection in accordance with Article 8 of the Law of Ukraine «On Copyright and Related Rights». The copyright for «Kazka» belongs to the Mykolaiv architect Vadym Popov, who designed and implemented this ensemble together with his wife Olha Popova. Vadym Popov passed away in 2021, and according to the law, the copyright passed to his heirs after his death. This means that the property rights to the ensemble now belong to Popov's heirs, including his wife Olha Popova, and will be protected for 70 years after the author's death, i.e. until 2091. At the same time, non-property rights, such as the right to inviolability of the work and recognition of authorship, are indefinite and also remain protected by law.

NikVesti submitted an information request to the Mykolaiv City Council asking whether the dismantling of the arches on the side of Soborna Street was agreed with the owners of the rights to the architectural work. In response to the journalist's request, Anatolii Petrov, Deputy Mayor of Mykolaiv for Humanitarian Affairs, stated that copyright does not apply to the fencing elements of the children's town.

«The complex of entrance arches (inv.101310009) is part of the general fence and is not subject of copyright», said Vice Mayor Anatolii Petrov.

The style of the arches is identical to other elements of the town, photo: Boris Mavliutov, Wikipedia

At the same time, the entrance arch of the children's town «Kazka» dismantled by cultural figures is made in the same architectural style as other elements of the ensemble, in particular, the same arches can be seen around the amphitheatre and other parts of the town. This confirms that the arched structures are part of a coherent architectural concept developed by Vadym Popov and are not a separate or alien element.

The question of why Mykolaiv Deputy Mayor Anatolii Petrov believes that copyright does not apply to the entrance arch remains unanswered.

NikVesti contacted Olha Popova, the wife of architect Vadym Popov, who is the heir to the copyright. In a commentary to the journalist, she expressed doubt about the expediency of demolishing elements of the town they designed more than 40 years ago.

«Vadym Pavlovych is no longer with us.... And I was not approached. It was up to the designers to see what the accident rate was. In my opinion, there cannot be such an accident rate. Who conducted this survey? 

It doesn't sound serious. It was supposed to be done by a state institute, «DIPROMISTO». There is no such hazard there that it needs to be demolished immediately. They could have closed this entrance and done it from the other side. And again... The image would still be preserved,» said Olga Popova.

She also said that in 2015, when the Mykolaiv City Council was planning to repair the roof of the café «Teremok» on the territory of the children's town «Kazka», the then mayor Yurii Hranaturov and the city's architect Oleksandr Bondar came to see her and Vadym Popov.

In 2015, officials coordinated with them as the authors of the architectural work all the changes related to the reconstruction of the cafe.

One of the models of «Kazka» shows that the entrance arches were part of the original architectural design. A still from Vadym Kirchev's documentary about «Kazka»

The authorities' position is a metal fence instead of restoring the arch

In the city that built aircraft carriers, the technology of manufacturing reinforced concrete products has been lost. The management of «Kazka» decided to install a regular metal fence instead of the original arch, which was originally designed by the author of the children's town, Vadym Popov.

Interim director Ihor Pronin told NikVesti that it would take at least six months of work to restore this «very serious» structure.

«Can you imagine a reinforced concrete plant not working nowadays? To order such «pretzels» (original language, — note) would take six months. It's expensive, you need a mould to make these pillars, to make the half-rings, it's a very serious construction. And why should we go to someone else if we can do it on our own? We have the materials, we have the people,» said Igor Pronin.

So the three cultural workers signed the dismantling act, organised a working group «and demolished the arch.

They were supported by the chief architect of Mykolaiv, Yevhen Poliakov. In comments on Facebook under a post by NikVesti journalist Oleh Derenyuga, he stated that he opposed the restoration of the entrance arch as it was built more than 40 years ago. To support his opinion, he attached a photograph of the six arches, which once housed the name «Skazka» in Russian.

In fact, long ago, the local authorities of Mykolaiv replaced this Russian inscription with «Kazka» and placed the logo of the children's town in the free arched vault.

Chief architect Yevhen Poliakov explains why he is against the restoration of the arches in «Kazka»

He did not give any other reasons why the current chief architect considers it impossible to restore the structure destroyed by the city authorities.

At the same time, the head of the Department of Architecture and Urban Planning of Mykolaiv, the city's chief architect, Yevhen Poliakov, is subordinated to the Architectural and Urban Planning Council, an advisory body for professional collegial review and discussion of urban planning, architectural and engineering solutions in the city.

In accordance with the Council's tasks, it is supposed to provide recommendations on planning issues within historical areas and architectural monument protection zones. The Children's Town «Kazka», although not an architectural monument, is located in the historical centre of Mykolaiv and is a landmark, and its fence and entrance arches are the facade part that create a visual component that forms the architectural image of the city. It is not just a part of the fence, but also an architectural element, the change of which can destroy the integrity of the complex and affect the perception of the architectural face of Mykolaiv.

Such decisions and ideas of the chief architect Yevhen Poliakov should have been discussed professionally in the community of architects or at a meeting of the Architectural and Urban Planning Council. However, there is no evidence of any discussions or consultations, and the decision to demolish the building was made behind the scenes, without public involvement.

This is especially relevant as the children's town «Kazka» was built using the method of people's construction — hundreds of Mykolaiv residents joined in its creation, investing their efforts, time and resources to make this project a reality. That is why the decision to demolish any part of the ensemble, which is made unilaterally, without taking into account the opinion of the community, is not only incorrect but also violates the principles of public ethics and professionalism. Ignoring the contribution of the city's residents to this unique object devalues their work and negates the historical significance of the joint initiative.

«Kazka» was built using the method of folk construction. A still from Vadym Kirchev's documentary

«Kazka» was built by the method of people's construction. A still from the documentary by Vadym Kirchev

«Kazka» was built using the method of folk construction. A still from the documentary by Vadym Kirchev

«Kazka» was built using the method of folk construction. A still from the documentary by Vadym Kirchev

«Kazka» was built using the method of folk construction. A still from Vadym Kirchev's documentary

You can also read about the construction of the children's town «Kazka» in an article by Kateryna Stryl on the site «Mykolaivskyi Bazar». In particular, it states that it was Olha Popova who convinced the local authorities to build the fairy tale not in the Lisky neighbourhood, but in the city centre, where it is now located.