The P. N. Shaposhnikov House — a residential building constructed in 1905, formerly located in Nizhny Novgorod at Kholodny Lane, 7A. The property was included in the Unified State Register of Cultural Heritage Sites of the Peoples of the Russian Federation (registration no. 521410100010005) as a monument of regional significance; however, it was in fact demolished and removed from the register in 2019.[2]

History of the Building

The house was built in 1905. From 1988 onwards, a residential block in the Zvezdinka Street, Studenaya, and Bolshaya Pokrovskaya area of Nizhny Novgorod's Historic Center underwent reconstruction; the building's residents were evicted and the structure was abandoned. From 1995, a construction company was allocated the plot of land beneath the house for the purpose of completing the block's reconstruction — on condition that the building be preserved.

In 2007, Fasad-NN LLC submitted a reconstruction project that provided for the demolition of the historic building. In 2008, an alternative restoration project was developed that included the rebuilding of the second floor, which had been damaged by fire. In 2009, the same Fasad-NN LLC agreed with the regional authority for the state protection of cultural heritage on a project to restore the house using new structural elements while increasing the number of storeys from two to three or four.[2] According to the Nizhny Novgorod Region government, building no. 7A was granted the status of a recreated cultural heritage site, with restoration of the principal façade.[2]

Demolition and Removal from the Register

Despite its protected status, the building was effectively demolished and a new structure erected in its place.[2] In April 2013, Vladimir Khokhlov, the head of the Nizhny Novgorod Region Department for the State Protection of Cultural Heritage Sites, cited the building at Kholodny Lane, 7 among the demolished monuments subject to restoration, though no timeframe for restoration was announced.[1]

By a decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated 28 November 2019, no. 2837, the P. N. Shaposhnikov House was removed from the Unified State Register of Cultural Heritage Sites.[2] This constituted an unusual precedent: according to the same Khokhlov, as recently as 2013 not a single architectural monument on the territory of the Region had ever been removed from the register, despite the existence of a procedure for doing so.[1]

Sources

  1. progorodnn.ru — The fact of the monument's demolition gained public attention in part thanks to Deputy Vladimir Bulanov, who drew his colleagues' attention to the fact that on the site of the listed building an "uniden
  2. Nizhny Novgorod Now RF — Nizhny Now — The status of a recreated cultural heritage site with restoration of the principal façade was approved by the regional authority for the state protection of cultural herit
  1. In the city of N — Not a single site in Nizhny Novgorod Region has been removed from the register of cultural heritage monuments since 2006
  2. nn800.ru — The domain registration has expired