With less than seven months left to Independence Day, city officials and architects still haggling over design of monument commemorating occasion
With less than seven months remaining until Ukraine’s 10th birthday, Maidan Nezalezhnosti was fenced off and closed last month for construction of a monument and shopping center to commemorate the anniversary.
But even as workers began cutting through concrete and removing fountains, city officials and architects were still haggling over the design of the future monument.
Some want a classic Greek motif, others want anything but that. And some think the large screen TV that now stands on the square should remain.
Until the squabbling is resolved, construction is focused on a huge ambitious underground mall.
“There will be multi-level space with its squares, fountains, shops, restaurants and a parking lot for 400 cars. Maidan’s underground also will host a museum of Ukrainian history,” said Iryna Yarmoluik, spokeswoman of the Architecture and Construction Department of the Kyiv City Administration.
But the controversy centers on the other side of Khreshchatyk, where a giant TV screen now stands.
In 1995 President Leonid Kuchma decided that Kyiv should erect a grand symbol dedicated to Ukrainian independence. Naturally, the colossus would be unveiled on the 10th Independence Day amid much fanfare. A competition was held that year, but in the end, no entry was deemed worthy of the honor, and the whole thing was shelved.
With time running out, however, another contest was held last fall. Architectural experts and cultural and public figures gathered to choose among 30 works by Ukraine’s leading sculptors and architects. They reluctantly chose “Glory to Ukraine,” a Hr 52 million project by architect Ruslan Kukharenko, featuring a 38-meter-high column and a six-meter-high bronze statue of a woman holding a tree branch.
But after the results were published, some participants and jury members appealed to Kuchma, complaining about violations during the contest and the fact that the winner’s project was too similar to the Heroes Square monument in Budapest.
On the pedestal of the winning entry are statues of Kyiv’s founders, and a colonnade with the 12 most important personalities in Ukrainian history in the background. The concept is strikingly similar to the Budapest monument.
The second-place project, titled “2001,” by Oleksandr Komarovsky, is a Hr 42 million underground history and entertainment center covered by a big glass dome.
To quell the dispute, contest officials allowed the two winners to work together on a common project. Still there were sour grapes.
“This monument doesn’t reflect the idea of independence or any ideology,” said Vadym Zhezherin, head of the Kyiv City Architects’ Union. “It’s a professional work but it’s not modern enough for the 21st century. There should have been an open contest for the best idea for such a monument.”
He claims the contest held by the Kyiv City Administration was not fair and open to the public.
Glory to Ukraine has not been approved by the City Construction Council, the body with final say. But despite the opposition, head architect Zhezherin predicts the project will get final approval soon because the government is desperate to get something up by August.
“Public opinion and all those critical publications are not the main factors here,” Zhezherin said. “People can write letters or do whatever they want, but I think this decision will be adopted anyway.”
That’s discouraging news for those who want something different. But many residents actually prefer the large-screen TV to any monument.
Kyiv mayor Oleksandr Omelchenko wants to abide by their wishes. He said on Jan. 24 that the screen would be re-located rather than removed because people love it.
A different fate awaits another Maidan favorite. Architects have ordered the fountains around the square by the main post office removed. The statue of Archangel Mykhail, the patron saint of Kyiv, known to local youth as “Batman,” will remain in its old place but will be made bigger.
Workers have already begun excavation of Lyadski Vorota, one of the original gates to Kyiv dating back to the 11th century, which is buried under cocrete. Architect Oleksandr Komarovsky, who designed the reconstruction of Maidan 25 years ago, wanted to unearth the monument, but a lack of money and modern equipment prevented excavation, said Yarmolyuk of the Architecture and Construction Department.
