The Center of Contemporary Culture in Gaidar Park is a comprehensive redevelopment project for the Arkady Gaidar Culture and Recreation Park in Arzamas, underway since 2019. The park is located on Lenin Avenue and operates as a municipal autonomous cultural institution of the city of Arzamas.[1] The project has twice won the All-Russian Competition for the Best Projects for Creating a Comfortable Urban Environment in Small Towns and Historic Settlements — in 2018 and 2026.[1][2]
History and Implementation
In 2018, following a public rating vote, more than 60% of residents voted in favor of redeveloping the park — the highest figure among all proposed sites.[1] The city administration, together with the park directorate, held a series of events to involve residents in developing the concept. To refine the concept and prepare the competition entry, the team from the ANO "Institute for Urban Environment Development of Nizhny Novgorod Region" (IRGSNО) joined the project.[1]
The project authors are Darya Shorina, Kirill Brosalin, Vyacheslav Kochkin, Dmitry Baranov, Kirill Filchenkov, Aleksandr Ablesimov, Aleksey Yeliseyev, Kirill Kuzmichev, Yuliya Shumilkina, and Aleksandr Kuritsyn (ANO IRGSNO); detailed design was carried out by FGBOU VO NNGASU and Nizhegorodsky Promstroyproekt".[1] The total park area is 25.9 hectares; the first-phase development area is 3.33 hectares.[1]
In late 2018, the project design and cost estimation documentation was developed. Construction of the first phase began in the summer of 2019 and was completed in December of that year.[1] The first phase included the main entrance to the park, a sports avenue with team game facilities and a workout area, as well as plazas for cultural, public, and festival events by the lake.[1] Subsequent phases provide for the renovation of the children's avenue and attractions, a landscape zone, and an arboretum area.[1]
Concept
The key idea of the project is defined as "Hero + Place." The hero is writer Arkady Gaidar, after whom the park is named. The history of the place is revealed through the preserved terrain: the park retains pits left from clay extraction that was used to produce bricks for the construction of the historic part of Arzamas. Ceramic brick is used in the concept both as a building material and as a modular design element.[1]
The concept is aimed at the phased development of the park as a multifunctional, all-season, inclusive urban space. The project establishes a unified design code for the park and fills it with points of attraction for all age groups of city residents.[1]
Victory in the 2026 Competition
In August 2026, the Arzamas project once again became the winner of the All-Russian competition for the best projects for creating a comfortable urban environment in small towns and historic settlements.[2] In total, five projects from Nizhny Novgorod Region won the competition that year: in addition to the Arzamas project, these were the comprehensive landscaping project for Lenin Street, the Sarov project "Park 'Poznaniye' — A Territory of Discoveries," the Semyonov project "The Blue of Semyonov's Forests" for developing a museum-and-factory cluster, and the renewal of Sovetskaya Square and Minin Square in Balakhna with the restoration of the Church of the Nativity of the Mother of God and the "House of Moscow".[2]
Governor Gleb Nikitin noted that, counting the 2026 winners, more than 50 projects from Nizhny Novgorod Region had been recognized in the competition over the entire time it has been held. Among previously completed projects, he named the Borok Park in Uren, the central square of Dzerzhinsk, and Gorodets Museum Quarter.[2]