Purchase of historic tram substation in Mykolaiv to be included in targeted programme, Sienkevych sees museum there

Members of the executive committee of the Mykolaiv City Council have approved the acquisition of the historic tram substation building by the city for 3.5 million hryvnias.

The relevant changes were made to the programme «of Economic and Social Development for 2024-2026», NikVesti reports.

This facility is owned by Raiffeisen Bank. City council members have previously supported the idea of buying it, and now the relevant changes are being made to the budget and programme documents.

«This issue was discussed for a long time — the possibility of acquiring the building into municipal ownership. At the previous session, the deputies approved the purchase intentions. Now, in order to make changes to the budget, we need to update the Social and Economic Development Programme. Please support us,» explained Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych.

In an interview with the municipal TV channel «MART», the mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Sienkevych, reminded that the building had never belonged to the city. After the acquisition, they plan to create a tourist information centre and a small museum. According to him, the premises need repairs, including strengthening the foundation and waterproofing.

«We plan to create a small museum of the city and a tourist information centre in the building. It will be located in the heart of Mykolaiv, where both citizens and tourists will be able to come to find out what to see, where to go, how to spend their time, and learn about the history of the city. These are plans for the future. Visually, you can approach from the outside and see that there are cracks that go underground, the foundation needs to be strengthened, waterproofed, and repaired. The facility itself is small - about 150 square metres, so you can't walk around much,» said Oleksandr Sienkevych.

Earlier, Mykolaiv City Council deputy from the «Servant of the People» party and entrepreneur Mykola Kapatsyna publicly announced his readiness to invest 1 million hryvnias in the project. In addition, cultural and public figure Volodymyr Aleksieiev also said he was ready to spend 100,000 hryvnias to preserve the historic building for the city.

«Fellow deputies will be able to use this money to put this building in order, in fact, when it is already owned by the city. We are always happy when there is such an opportunity so that outsiders who want to invest in the development of the city can do so officially, as they say, and according to the documents,» added Oleksandr Sienkevych.

Sale of a historic building on Soborna Street

As you know, on 9 February, the building of the first tram substation at 8a Soborna Street was put up for sale with a starting price of just 3.5 million hryvnias.

According to Yurii Liubarov, head of Mykolaiv's Department of Culture, the building's owner had approached the mayor's office with a proposal to purchase the building before the auction was announced, but Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych refused, citing a lack of funds.

NikVesti asked Serhii Prudkyi, an honorary citizen of Mykolaiv and member of the executive committee, who was once a bank director and bought the building for «Aval», what he thought about the possibility of the city buying the property. He replied that the Department of Culture should now look for opportunities to purchase the building for ₴3.5 million to preserve the architectural monument for the people of Mykolaiv.

Tetiana Dombrovska, a member of the Mykolaiv City Council and head of the «Servant of the People» faction, is also of the opinion that the historic tram substation building on Soborna Street should be bought in the interests of the city community.

And Mykola Kapatsyna, co-owner of the shipyard «Ocean» and a member of the Mykolaiv City Council, said he was ready to allocate 1 million hryvnias to buy the building for the city along with others.

MP Artem Illiuk said that the city authorities should have involved the deputies in the decision to purchase the property.

At the same time, musician, volunteer and chairman of the supervisory board of the NGO «DOF» Volodymyr Aleksieiev supported the idea of raising 3.5 million hryvnias to buy the building of the first tram substation in the centre of Mykolaiv. He proposed to combine social and commercial uses in this building, which would bring benefits to the city and maintain the historic building.

As you know, this building was built in 1915 as the city's first tram substation. But later, the city built a more spacious building for these purposes, so in 1933 the equipment was removed and the building was empty for 40 years.

In 1970, it was decided to demolish the abandoned building to widen Lenin Avenue and build an underpass. However, thanks to the efforts of the city's former architect Olga Popova, the former substation was preserved and after reconstruction, a cafe «Sadko» started operating there.

The cafe operated until 1989, and then a bar «Assol» was opened there. After the collapse of the USSR, the building was empty again. At the beginning of the 21st century, the Mykolaiv branch of the bank «Aval» became the owner of the monument, and after renovating the building, it opened a branch.