The muddy fate of Leninsky Prospekt: either it will be renamed, or will be built up...

Novye Izvestia tried to figure out what fate awaits one of the most famous streets of the capital.

Irina Mishina

This story is almost detective. It began in 2013 with the proposal of the deputy Sergey Mitrokhin to rename Leninsky Prospekt. According to Mitrokhin, this would be very useful for the 75th anniversary of Vladimir Vysotsky. This story was continued in 2015, when the editor-in-chief of Ekho Moskvy, Alexei Venediktov, approached the president with a proposal to rename Marksistskaya Street in honor of Vladimir Vysotsky. The President in response promised to talk with Mayor Sobyanin. A few months later, one of the small streets on Taganka was named after Vysotsky. True, they renamed not the Marxist, but the Lower and Upper Taganka dead ends, located next to the Taganka theater.

And in the Moscow City Duma again raised this issue. But to be precise, not in the Duma itself, but in the Association "Capital Workshop of Cultural Figures" under the Moscow City Duma Commission on Culture and Mass Communications. Lev Lantsman, General Director of this Association, spoke about this. He told reporters that the renaming process was "moving on."

Other deputies sounded the alarm. Yelena Shuvalova, a member of the Moscow City Duma Culture Commission, expressed concern that in connection with the renaming of Leninsky, a redistribution of all documents is possible - both for individuals and legal entities, and this will probably entail a redistribution of land with possible development.

“The Upper and Lower Tagansky dead ends, where there were no residential buildings, were renamed Vysotsky Street. Can you imagine how much everything is on Leninsky Prospekt? We will have to change the name of the station, metro and MCC, remake the names of bus stops. The locals are afraid that they will all have to redo their passports. In addition, housing on Leninsky Prospekt is mostly elite, expensive, and no one wants to be in a new territory with a new name and muddy documents”, - says Yelena Shuvalova.

Just in case, let us recall the words of Lev Lantsman. Here, literally. The journalist asks: “As for the renaming of Leninsky Prospekt, is the issue moving forward?”. To this, Lev Lanzman replies: “It is moving forward. This is not an easy question. It is connected with the fact that there are different opinions ... It is necessary that these moods not quarrel, but reconcile. There is progress, consultations are being held, people are meeting, they are exchanging opinions, there is movement”.

However, listen for yourself.

We decided to clarify what these “progresses” are and how they see their consequences in the “Capital Workshop of Cultural Workers” by contacting the General Director of the Association, an honorary member of the Union of Writers of Russia Lev Lantsman. In his waiting room, an employee named Nadezhda answered us, categorically refusing to give her last name (is the "Capital Workshop of Cultural Workers" such a secret structure?). This very Nadezhda promised to “transfer everything to the management”, which will contact us. But time passed, and the Association "Capital Workshop of Cultural Workers" did not get in touch. Then we decided to inquire about the news about the renaming of Leninsky Prospekt from the chairman of the coordinating council of the "Capital Workshop of Cultural Workers", People's Artist of Russia, deputy of the Moscow City Duma, chairman of the commission on culture and mass communications of the Moscow State Duma Yevgeny Gerasimov.

“This is nonsense, of course, the personal judgment of Lev Lantsman. There are no such proposals from us. For a long time, when they were looking for a place for Vysotsky Street in Moscow, such a proposal was made. But then we found a place next to the Taganka Theater and named it after Vysotsky. So there will be no renaming”, - Yevgeny Gerasimov told NI.

We have no reason not to believe the chairman of the commission on culture of the Moscow City Duma. But wariness in connection with the fate of Leninsky Prospekt still remains. As we were told by the municipal deputy of the Gagarinsky district Elena Rusakova, miracles have been happening lately with the land issue on Leninsky Prospekt.

“The hunt for land in Moscow goes in many ways. There is no registration of land plots, and renaming is one of the ways to redistribute land. And the land on Leninsky is not even “golden”, it is just “diamond”. Leninsky was designed as an ensemble, the houses alternated with green spaces and squares. Why not build up these green areas? And in general, why not get the opportunity to build even more? The renaming did not work, and the construction lobby went the other way. On Leninsky, they decided to build a shallow subway line, on unstable ground, and completely unnecessary for the city: from Novatorov Street to Sevastopolsky Prospekt. This is not in the General Plan, and the consequences of its construction are easy to predict: houses will shrink, cracks will appear, they will be declared emergency and resettlement will be recommended. Then - demolition and development”, - the municipal deputy Yelena Rusakova told NI.

This shallow metro line will pass directly under a unique complex of 10-13-storey residential buildings built in the 1950s by the architect Belopolsky (ZhSK "Workers of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR - 1010 apartments"), Dmitry Ulyanov, 4 - Vavilov, 48. Technology for laying a shallow metro - this is the cheapest, but the most risky technology, involving open pits. “At public hearings, representatives of the Research Institute of the General Plan and the Department of Construction smiled at us and said that some houses “will have to be sacrificed.” As a result of this construction, the infrastructure of the avenue will be destroyed. Many houses on Leninsky Prospekt will inevitably collapse, a lot of green spaces will be destroyed (at least 1 hectare!)”, - said Yelena Rusakova, a municipal deputy.

Actually, the first victims of such a redistribution of land have already been outlined. They tried to declare the house of the cooperative of the Academy of Sciences emergency. The academics are holding their own, but the other houses will probably be easier to deal with.

So far, the communication of local residents with representatives of the construction complex suggests one thought: Leninsky Prospekt does not give rest to developers. Not by renaming, but by destroying the territory, they are trying to bring one of the main streets of the capital to development. The name of the avenue will most likely remain, but it is unlikely that it will be possible to preserve its former appearance.