Within the boundaries of the modern Sormovo (disambiguation) of Nizhny Novgorod, five specialized cinemas were built during the Soviet era: Burevestnik, Raketa, Raduga, Yunost, and Sormovsky. All were constructed according to standard designs — an approach that was faster, cheaper, and more reliable than individual design [1].
Burevestnik
The first cinema in Sormovo opened in May 1955. It was built to a standard single-auditorium design for 560 seats, authored by V. V. Shcherbakov; a description of the design appears in the book Arkhitektura kinoteatrov (Architecture of Cinemas, 1955) [1].
Buildings in other cities across the country were constructed to the same design, including an identical Pobeda Cultural Center in Nizhny Novgorod. Buildings of this type are difficult to adapt for other purposes, which is why most of them are still used as originally intended [1].
Raketa
The decision to build a cinema in the Stalinsky District of the City of Gorky was made by the executive committee and the cinema authority as early as the early 1930s. Construction began in 1939: at the far end of Bayevka, between the newly laid streets of Tsiolkovsky and Kommuny, at the beginning of Kolkhoznaya Street — now Fedoseenko Street — workers dug a large excavation pit [1].
The pit quickly filled with water and the site was deemed unsuitable for construction; soon after, the war began. The matter was not revisited until the early 1950s, when a new design was drawn up, the excavation was widened, and work on the foundations commenced [1].
The cinema opened in November 1958. It was built to design no. 2-06-27, "Cinema for 300 Seats," created by V. G. Kovalkov in 1956. The design was variable: buildings constructed from it differ noticeably in their finishing, and in the presence and placement of additional windows and doors on the main façade [1].
Raduga and Yunost
Both cinemas were built to the same standard design no. 2-06-59-7, created in 1959 and described as a standard cinema design intended primarily for construction in regional centers: a single-auditorium building with 300 seats [1].
Raduga opened in November 1962, and Yunost in July 1964 [1].
Sormovsky
The Sormovsky cinema opened in July 1982 and became the district's first wide-format, twin-auditorium venue — with 800 and 300 seats respectively. It was built to design no. 264-13-14 of 1968; in the book Arkhitektura goroda Gorkogo (Architecture of the City of Gorky, 1986), S. Khvil is named as the architect of Sormovsky [1].
How the standard designs spread
Each of the designs used in Sormovo was applied to buildings across the country, and the number of structures built to each design reflects how successful it proved to be [1]:
- The Burevestnik design — at least eighteen buildings, the last known one completed in 1961;
- The Raketa design (no. 2-06-27) proved the most popular: at least twenty-two cinemas, the last dating from 1966;
- The Raduga and Yunost design (no. 2-06-59-7) — at least eighteen buildings in addition to those in Sormovo, the last completed in 1968;
- The Sormovsky design (no. 264-13-14) — at least nineteen, the last completed in 1985.
The later fate of the standard cinemas
The fate of most buildings constructed to these designs across the country turned out differently than intended: with the spread of home film viewing and the rise of entertainment complexes, such cinemas closed down and their buildings were converted into shops or left vacant [1].
However beautiful our cinemas may be, they are not unique. Our country is vast, cinemas are needed everywhere, and so it makes more sense to build from standard designs — it is more reliable, faster, and cheaper.
Sources
- biblmr.r52.ru — Centralized Library System — "Krasny Sormovich" — Your History, Sormovo: the "siblings" of Sormovo's…