An underground passage in the Arkas Lyceum in Mykolaiv was completely dug up: UNOPS says the project will be adjusted, but not significantly

The building of the Arkas Lyceum. Archival photo by NikVesti.

In Mykolaiv, an underground passage at the foundation level of the Mykola Arkas Lyceum building was unearthed during emergency repairs. UNOPS reported that the discovery will partially adjust the project, but not significantly.

The organisation said this in a comment to NikVesti.

«The arch is indeed through, as you can see in the photo. It was discovered during the preparation for the construction of the shelter. The project will be slightly adjusted, but in general, this discovery does not significantly affect the progress of the work,» UNOPS said.

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Communications specialist Mykhailo Turianytsia clarified that the discovery does not affect the work of specialists and they continue to deepen the space.

«As for the context of the preparation: we are digging and deepening the space under the building to create a shelter there. In the photo, you can see the ground floor, where these works are underway,» said Mykhailo Turianytsia.

Yevhen Homoniuk, a cultural development expert at the Mykolaiv Reconstruction and Development Office, who published photos of the «vault» in the lyceum the day before, said that it is just over a metre long and leads to the next section of the foundation.

The underground passage in the Arkas Lyceum. Photo: Yevhen Homoniuk

An underground passage in the Arkas Lyceum. Photo: Yevhen Homoniuk

An underground passage in the Arkas Lyceum. Photo: Yevhen Homoniuk

«I think this is an engineering element for construction. It is difficult to comment on this because the work is not yet complete. It's great that we found out that there is such a thing, but it's not a super-sensation. It's just an underground arch that performs an engineering function,» Yevhen Homoniuk explained in a comment to NikVesti.

Arkas Lyceum during the war

The historic building of the First Ukrainian Mykola Arkas Gymnasium was destroyed on 1 November 2022 during the bombing of Mykolaiv by Russian troops. As a result of the shelling, a part of the wall fell down, the interior of the school classrooms opened up, and the roof over the facade was damaged.

Later, the Mykolaiv City Council's education department said that the lyceum building would be restored at the expense of Denmark. Later, Ukrainian architects presented options for the restoration and renovation of the Mykola Arkas Lyceum to Danish Ambassador Ole Egberg Mikkelsen. At the same time, he assured that the city authorities of Mykolaiv would choose the option for reconstruction.

Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych said that the lyceum would be restored while preserving its authentic appearance. Yurii Liubarov, head of the city council's culture department, spoke about one of the options for reconstructing the destroyed facade of the First Ukrainian Arkas Gymnasium. He suggested preserving the destroyed part of the façade in a glass «aquarium», while strengthening the floors, and restoring the rest of the façade to its authentic state in a classical way.

At the same time, in the capital expenditures of the Mykolaiv budget for 2023, the cost of the Arkas Gymnasium reconstruction project, according to the document, is 300 million hryvnias. The reconstruction period was set to last until the end of 2030.

After that, the Capital Construction Department of the City Council ordered the adjustment of the scientific and design documentation for the restoration of the Arkas Gymnasium.

Read also the article NikVesti «Not to lose the building. The restoration of the Arkas Gymnasium has begun in Mykolaiv». It is planned to restore the destroyed facade of the building by October 2025.