Photo: Alexander Galperin /
The St. Petersburg Prosecutor’s Office is conducting an investigation into the fate of the Sport Palace complex on the Southern Road. Recognized as a self-construction and sealed back in 2021, the building has been unguarded for the last few months, looted by vandals and turned into a colorful abandoned building. But the city authorities are slow to dismantle it.
As follows from the letter of the prosecutor’s office to the heads of the Property Relations Committee and the Property Control Committee dated July 29 (available to the editorial board), the reason was the appeal of State Duma Deputy Vladimir Isakov in the interests of Sport Palace LLC, Range LLC, Sports Directions LLC, who previously owned or operated the complex.
“According to the arguments of the appeal, the St. Petersburg Property Control Committee is carrying out work on dismantling the unauthorized construction facility. In the absence of permits, the property of these organizations has been removed in an unknown direction, the property relations committee charges and collects rent for the land plot,” the document says.
In this regard, the prosecutor’s office asks the CIO to provide the lease agreement, information about its termination and lease payments, including those collected in court. The CCI is expected to provide a report on the execution of the court’s decision on demolition or on its cancellation, as well as answers to the questions: does the dismantling project involve the destruction of trees and shrubs, where and on what basis the property of the complex disappeared, who guarded it, and whether legal entities associated with the complex applied for its return, and finally, the legal position on the specified circumstances.
What is the “Sport Palace” and why it needs to be demolished
The Sport Palace premium sports club building with five pools and a golf simulator was built back in the mid-2000s. The problems arose due to his unclear legal status. On paper, the construction was temporary, but in fact it was capital. Due to changes in legislation, the facility was unable to obtain a permit for commissioning and became an unauthorized construction in the eyes of the city authorities. In 2016, Smolny terminated the investment agreement with the company. In the same year, the Petrogradsky District Court, at the request of the prosecutor’s office, ordered Sport Palace LLC to dismantle the sports complex. In 2020, the decision came into force. But the company launched the liquidation process, transferring the rights to the building to another legal entity and making the court’s decision unenforceable. In 2021, Smolny ran out of patience: the building was first disconnected from the sewer, surrounded by a fence. Bailiffs settled inside, saying that they were preparing the building for demolition. However, they never started work and left the building in November 2023. Shortly before that, the property control committee received the right to demolish the complex by a court decision. In January 2024, the CCI ordered the demolition of the Sports Palace, then the deadline was moved to July 1, 2024. But that didn’t happen again.
The Fontanka correspondent made sure that the building still stands on the South Road. But the once elite sports complex has turned into an unsightly ruin. The gates are broken in several places, the windows are broken. The facade is painted with graffiti and advertisements for a telegram channel dedicated to abandoned buildings, which by no means add charm to the park alley. There is no furniture or equipment left inside — broken glass, garbage and piles of paper are everywhere.
Photo: Alexander Galperin /
Photo: Alexander Galperin /
Photo: Alexander Galperin /
Photo: Alexander Galperin /
Photo: Alexander Galperin /
Photo: Alexander Galperin /
Photo: Alexander Galperin /
Photo: Alexander Galperin /
Photo: Alexander Galperin /
Photo: Alexander Galperin /
Photo: Alexander Galperin /
Photo: Alexander Galperin /
Photo: Alexander Galperin /
Photo: Alexander Galperin /
Photo: Alexander Galperin /
Why was the Sport Palace left unguarded
As Roman Kurbatov, the owner of the Sports Palace, told Fontanka, after the bailiffs sealed the building in 2021, he did not have the opportunity to get into it to take out the property, although he made such a request. “Until now, both the bailiffs and the CCI have not been allowed into the building at all and have not given up property, now they have abandoned the building, which is being walked around by anyone,” he commented. Also, according to the businessman, last autumn unknown people took equipment out of the building: Roman Kurbatov filed a statement to the police about this.
The press service of the KCI said that the bailiffs handed over the building of the “Sport Palace” already free of valuable property. After the arrest, as part of the enforcement proceedings, it was transferred to the custody of a third-party organization. “At the moment, access to the facility is limited,” they stressed.
According to Fontanka, accepting the Sport Palace from the bailiffs, the CPEIGI signed a contract with a security company that was supposed to monitor the building by cameras and go to the place in case of an alarm. At the end of March, its director reported that outsiders could freely enter the facility through a broken fence, broken windows and doors, and the existing cameras did not provide proper control. Since the number of trips has increased many times, the company offered to set up a guard post or terminate cooperation. In April, the contract expired and was not extended.
Why can’t you just take it down
The competition for the development of design documentation for the dismantling of the Sport Palace was announced back in February, the work was undertaken by UK Springald. According to the press service of the KCI, at the moment a state historical and cultural examination has been carried out (Primorsky Victory Park, where the Sport Palace is located, is an object of cultural heritage, which means that the work requires coordination with the KGIOP. — Ed. note), as well as design and estimate documentation for dismantling has been developed. “After verifying the reliability of determining the estimated cost of demolition of the capital construction facility, competitive procedures will be carried out,” the department noted. The timing of the dismantling was not announced in the press service.
According to Fontanka, the developed documentation at the end of July was refused approval from the St. Petersburg State Agrarian University “Center for State Expertise”. Now the contractor is working to eliminate the comments, said Valentin Zastavlenko, director of UK Springald. According to interlocutors familiar with the dismantling market, re—approval will take about a month, preparation of documentation for dismantling, examination and holding a competition – about three and a half more. Due to the status of the cultural heritage site, the disassembly will take place manually and will take about 16 weeks, that is, demolition will be completed at best in the first quarter of 2025.
Fontanka’s sources familiar with the situation cite two possible reasons for the delay. According to one version, the demolition of a large facility was decided to pause until the elections scheduled for September. However, it is not entirely clear how this interfered with the preparatory work. The second version is managerial and personnel problems at the very center of improving the efficiency of using state property.
At the end of 2023, Roman Golovanov, who previously headed the investment committee, became the head of the property control committee, followed by the head of the CPEIGA: in February 2024, Anatoly Kiselyov headed the institution. A couple of months later, a mass exodus of employees began. In particular, three deputy heads, the chief accountant and several heads of departments left the CPEIGA, one of the former employees told Fontanka. Information about the personnel shortage was also confirmed by one of the contractors. According to him, this affected the timing of decision-making and execution of work under contracts.
An indirect confirmation of the difficulties may be lower budget execution rates. So, on June 1, 2024, the KCI spent only 20% of the funds allocated to it, whereas on the same date last year 38%. Despite the fact that this year the KCI received significantly more money — 1.39 billion rubles (including 773 million for the demolition of unauthorized buildings), whereas in 2023 — 936 million rubles (including 378 million for the demolition of self-construction).
The press service of the KCI did not comment on personnel problems, and the lower rate of disbursement of funds was associated with an increase in the budget. “Additional funds were allocated for the preparation of territories for large urban projects, such as the Bolshoy Smolensky Bridge, SCHMSD, etc. The liberation of territories under such projects is planned, including for the 4th quarter of 2024. The work is proceeding according to schedule,” they concluded.
Galina Boyarkova,
Photo: Alexander Galperin /
Источник: www.fontanka.ru
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