The capital authorities ruthlessly surrender the city's historical architecture to bulldozers
It seems that the current capital authorities genuinely want to erase the historical memory of Kyiv's residents. Otherwise, how can one explain the construction conflicts that flare up in the city almost weekly? Recently, Kyiv activists pointed out that yet another historical building is at risk of disappearing from the capital's map in the near future — the Logvynov Merchants' Manor located at 127 Kazymyr Malevych Street.
Kashтан NEWS investigated the situation.
A bit of history
The Logvynov Merchants' Manor is situated on a street that is now named after Kazymyr Malevych. This street first appeared in the early 19th century and was initially populated mainly with one- and two-story buildings. In the 1980s and 1990s, most of the old structures on this street were demolished, primarily to make way for new residential complexes. Several buildings were also torn down in the 2000s. As a result of this development, only six buildings from the old architecture remain on the street — numbers 2, 24, 31, 85, 87, and the Logvynov Manor at number 127.
The building has three floors, although it was originally two stories high: in 1949, an additional third floor was constructed for the needs of a transportation school that was housed there at the time. In 1991, one of the structural divisions of "Kyivpastrans" moved into the building.
Who is encroaching on the building?
The construction conflicts surrounding the manor began relatively recently: in 2020, the capital authorities decided to transfer the building for privatization. Thus, it was removed from the ownership of the Kyiv territorial community and transferred to LLC "Tower Grip," the ultimate beneficial owner of which is Vadim Stolar.
0 However, thanks to the intervention of concerned Kyiv residents, law enforcement took notice of this situation. As a result, the Holosiivskyi District Prosecutor's Office opened a criminal case and is investigating the legality of the transfer of ownership rights to the building. Nevertheless, the building may not survive until the investigation is completed, as noted by well-known Kyiv heritage defender Dmytro Perov, since the preservation of this old structure is not anticipated by its functional designation. According to the draft decision of the Kyiv City Council, a multi-story residential and commercial development is planned for the site of the manor.
The decision — not final, but…
It is worth noting that the final signature of the esteemed city officials on the verdict for the Logvynov Manor has not yet been placed, and the decision as a whole has not yet been made.
“If the draft decision is ultimately approved (and as of today, this building does not have heritage protection status), then it faces an unenviable fate — there are currently no legal obstacles to demolish it and build an office center or residential complex in its place,” Perov lamented.
By the way, he added, during the last session of the Kyiv City Council held last Thursday, the issue regarding the future of the Logvynov Manor was not discussed.
Perhaps, Perov suggested, other more pressing issues got in the way.
“But I think this question will reappear at the nearest session,” the heritage defender predicted.
There is much antiquity, but only one Department
Thus, as it turns out, the Logvynov Manor still lacks any protective status and can be treated as one pleases. This raises a logical question: how did this happen? At first glance, the answer is quite simple. According to official data, there are about 3,000 historical objects in Kyiv, but only around a thousand of them have protective status. Additionally, the technical capabilities of the Department of Cultural Heritage Protection allow for the granting of this status to only 1-2 objects per year. Such a pace of protecting old Kyiv buildings clearly does not match the appetites of local developers, who wish to erect new structures, particularly in the city center. This desire collides with the limited number of free plots, which can only be acquired through the demolition of historical buildings.
1 “Therefore, the efforts of the Department to account for and protect cultural heritage cannot compete with the efforts of developers to destroy historical heritage and thus clear old capital buildings for the realization of their construction projects,” the interlocutor stated.
Is there a way out?
Despite everything, the question of why the old building still has not received the necessary protective status remains open and is directed to the Department of Cultural Heritage Protection of the Kyiv City State Administration.
Moreover, there is indeed a way out of the situation. The Kyiv City Council has a draft decision to grant protective status to all historical buildings older than 100 years. However, this document has not been presented for consideration in the session hall of the Kyiv City Council for a year and a half. The relevant department, in turn, has not taken steps for a positive resolution of this issue, remaining a passive observer without a clear position.
2 “Each time, the deputies and the mayor have a multitude of other urgent issues, rather than the protection of historical cultural heritage,” — Perov makes a grim conclusion with bitter irony.
At the same time, he points out another possible way to resolve the issue of preserving Kyiv's historical architecture. As the activist explains, some time ago, specialists developed amendments to the law on cultural heritage protection and submitted them in the form of a bill to the relevant committees of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, where it currently remains.
“This is also not a quick process. But I think we will slowly move towards the necessary conclusion,” the defender of Kyiv's antiquities concluded hopefully.
Yevhen DEMYANOV