It will take another two years and ₴264.9 million to complete the reconstruction of Mykolaiv Lyceum №2

Restoration work on the historic façade of Gymnasium №2 in Mykolaiv, 2024, photo by NikVesti

An additional 264.9 million hryvnias are needed to complete the reconstruction of the building of Mykolaiv Lyceum №2, which was destroyed by shelling. The work is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2027.

This was reported to NikVesti by the Department of Urban Planning, Architecture and Capital Construction of the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration.

The Regional Military Administration has already announced a tender to find a contractor who will complete the reconstruction of the lyceum within two years. However, the state has not yet allocated funds for this work, they added.

«In 2026, funding is expected for projects that were implemented in previous budget periods using funds from the Fund for the Elimination of the Consequences of Armed Aggression. The procurement has now been announced for an expected amount of 264.9 million hryvnias. This is the amount that is planned to be received in 2026-2027,» explained the Department of Urban Development and Architecture.

The contractor will have to perform the following work for these funds:

• Partial restoration of facades;
• Interior finishing;
• Electrical equipment;
• Installation of a lift for people with disabilities;
• Equipment for the shelter;
• Improvement of internal areas.

As of early March 2026, 99.3 million hryvnias from the state budget had already been spent on the reconstruction of Gymnasium №2, according to the RMA. The contractor, Zhitloprombud-8, has already completed 40% of the work: it has restored the roof, dismantled and rebuilt the destroyed part, reinforced the window openings, installed metal-plastic window structures, bricked up the interior walls, laid communications and internal networks, restored the facades, and is working on the shelter premises.

Read also the article by NikVesti «Survived four shellings: What is the fate of the historic building of Lyceum №2 in the centre of Mykolaiv?»

Restoration of Gymnasium №2

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The issue of restoring Gymnasium №2 was raised even before the full-scale invasion. In March 2021, the gymnasium building was declared unsafe. A petition was then created on the city council's website to preserve the gymnasium in a viable condition, which was supported by over a thousand residents. Two days later, the head of the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration, Vitalii Kim, announced that the regional authorities were ready to cooperate with the city authorities on the restoration of Gymnasium №2.

In May 2021, the head of the capital construction department of the Mykolaiv City Council, Oleksandr Pozdniakov, announced that two companies had responded to a commercial offer to investigate the gymnasium's condition. It turned out that only part of the roof was unsafe and that there was no threat to the educational process. The library and museum were then «evicted» from the gymnasium wing.

Later, Mykolaiv Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych announced that Gymnasium №2 would undergo routine repairs by the end of 2021, while capital works would be postponed for the time being.

Since the start of the full-scale war, the gymnasium has survived four enemy shellings. The first occurred in April 2022. The building was damaged by the use of cluster munitions.

Therefore, the restoration of the facility was included in the four objects in the Mykolaiv region for which the government allocated 1.2 billion hryvnias for restoration in 2024. Of these funds, 149.5 million hryvnias were allocated from the state budget for the reconstruction of Gymnasium №2.

In July 2023, the Department of Urban Development and Architecture of the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration commissioned a project and subsequently a tender for the restoration of the building, which was won by the company Zhytloprombud-8 with a bid of 145.5 million hryvnias. The contractor was supposed to complete the work by 31 December 2024, including the construction of a shelter and the restoration of the building after shelling. However, the work was not completed on time and was postponed until 2025.