You're reading: Historical ‘small opera’ in decay

In 2004, opera singer Yulia Miroshnichenko came up with the idea of turning a crumbling, century-old building at 5 Dehtyarivska Street into a center for promising young singers called “Small Opera.”

Eight years later, Miroshnichenko has passed on and the municipal project at the former tram workers’ cultural center appears no closer to bearing fruit. The stylish red-and-white building, erected in 1902 in 17th-century Russian style, lies empty and disused amid arguments over land ownership and use.

The story of the project’s failure is an example of how fights over a valuable land plot in Kyiv can leave precious architectural monuments decaying and bury social initiatives.

Today, the three-story building stands like an aging gingerbread house plastered with advertizing panels. Inside, the scene is much scarier. Once beautifully decorated, the ancient molding on the ceiling is competing for attention with huge holes.

A 2011 report by Kyiv officials listed the Small Opera as one of more than 40 cultural heritage sites in the capital that are in dangerous condition.

“We’re talking about the worst of the worst,” says Oleksandr Bryhynets, a Kyiv City Council deputy and an activist for the Ukrainian Association for Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments.
He added that the listed building requires immediate attention.

Oleksandr Volkov, the Small Opera’s chief engineer, says city authorities coughed up some cash to fix the leaky roof, but the building needs significantly more work.

Among the problems is the constant flooding of the cellar, as the drainage system on the street often cannot cope with the rainfall.

“It’s a very big problem,” Volkov says. “It will cost a lot to deal with it.”

The Small Opera no longer has chairs, heavy curtains or back stage machinery. The balcony has piles of books lying around, brought up from the damp cellar.

It was supposed to open in 2007 after significant remodeling work. Although it was officially opened, the building remains virtually untouched.

And it seems unlikely to see activity any time soon because of an ongoing land conflict.

Despite the city’s decision to give the Small Opera project the green light, the land under the building was leased out to a private company Budhall until 2015. The company also rents all of the surrounding territory that once used to house a tram park.

The red-and-white building of Small Opera is empty and disused. (Kostyantyn Chernichkin)

The relationship between Budhall and the municipal project Small Opera has been strained for years. Representatives of the Small Opera project say Budhall has agreed to sublease the land under the building to the Small Opera project – but not an inch more.

They say that would not be enough: The building would have no parking, and it is unclear who would be in charge of fixing ancient underground communications leading to the building.

Oleksandr Stelmashchuk, executive director of Budhall, says the Small Opera has “a big appetite for the land” it stands on. The Small Opera’s administration, he says, initially claimed the whole land plot that used to belong to the tram park, which is many times more than they would actually need to run the building smoothly.

Stelmashchuk said instead his company has agreed to lease the land it stands on, as well as the surrounding territory and pavements. Negotiations have been going back and forth for years, but there is no agreement yet.

Bryhynets of the Kyiv City Council says that what he is worried about the most is Budhall’s own building plans.

The company received the valuable land plot from the city to build an office and apartment complex in a location close to the center.

“The worst scenario is if the historical building of Small Opera is considered to be a part of a bigger structure,” he says. “It is necessary to preserve the purpose of the land on which Small Opera is in order not to have only bits and pieces remaining.”

But Budhall says his concerns are misguided. Stelmashchuk says the company doesn’t need the building of the Small Opera and is even prepared to take part in its reconstruction.

“This is an architectural monument, so nobody will change the façade,” Stelmashchuk says. “There will be no additional stories or accretions.”

He says negotiations around the Small Opera continue, but it appears reconstruction of this ancient building is not in sight. In 2015, Budhall’s lease agreement will run out, but the post-lease plan hasn’t been devised yet.

Kyiv Post staff writer Denis Rafalsky can be reached at [email protected]