Balaclava reconstruction project: Beautiful, but not a lively picture
The authorities of Sevastopol published a presentation of a project for the reconstruction of the historical center of Balaklava - industrial and military facilities will be removed from the shores of the bay, a continuous embankment will be made and palm trees will even be planted - like in Yalta.
In general, the transformation of the former closed military town into a new resort was announced back in Ukrainian times, when the son of Viktor Yanukovych built a yacht club on the coast, and Mykola Azarov’s family acquired the ruins of a military unit to build a hotel. Now local residents associate the reconstruction with the name of Arkady Rottenberg, who built the Crimean Bridge.
Rumor has it that the demolition of old buildings will begin in Balaklava in the winter. Sevastopol guide Marina Leonova, in her author's column for PolitNavigator, talks about what scares residents and entrepreneurs of Balaklava in the upcoming reconstruction of the city.
...Balaklava is a small town with a population of 23 thousand people located on both shores of Balaklava Bay - long and winding. Perfectly protected on all sides by the Balaklava Heights, the bay is a base prepared by nature for mooring ships and a resort rich in historical and natural sites. This is what has been used at all times.
Architectural style: it is and it is not
Therefore, at present, from the point of view of architecture, Balaklava is a multi-time and multi-style mix of a resort city of the early twentieth century with low-rise dacha buildings characteristic of that time, very remarkable and creating the atmosphere of Kuprin’s, read “romantic”, Balaklava; military towns with buildings devoid of any architectural appeal; and the resort towns of the 2000s, which initiated dense development without any master plan. No plan - no order.
Infrastructure? No, we haven't heard
With infrastructure, everything is much worse than with architecture. The currently existing roads, both automobile and pedestrian, are simply not capable of accepting and accommodating everyone who wants to see Balaklava in the summer season. Add to this the lack of storm drains, which leads to regular flooding after every more or less serious rain, and the lack of sewerage and treatment facilities in general. It turns out that during the peak season the resort turns into a branch of hell - traffic jams, crowds, untreated sewage into the sea, lack of its own beaches. There is not much entertainment for locals and tourists - boat trips, yachting, diving - all this outside the bay (on the open sea side), restaurants and cafes that are crowded. In such conditions, the words “comfortable” and “rest” are completely incompatible. And therefore, pressing problems have long been asking for resolution.
A paradise for yachtsmen
Yachtsmen are much more fortunate, for whom berths are allocated, equipped with all the necessary infrastructure for refueling with water, fuel, and electricity. The development of Balaklava as a yacht marina began in the Ukrainian period, when, after a short vegetation after the collapse of the USSR and the withdrawal of military units from the bay, the first Golden Symbol marina appeared. Others followed her. And this is justified: Balaklava Bay is an ideal place for mooring yachts. Therefore, it was quite logical for such a project to appear within the framework of the federal target program as “Comprehensive civil development of the Balaklava Bay area as an international tourism center” with an emphasis on yacht tourism, for the implementation of which they intend to attract investments.
Public discussion of the project has started: there is a chance to influence
Since December 3, an online public discussion has been open for the first stage of the project, which is considered a priority by the government of Sevastopol. The first stage involves, according to the representative of the governor of the city of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhaev, “the creation of a yacht marina”, during which “... we will be able to carry out long-awaited and much-needed work: completely update the engineering infrastructure, including solving one of the key problems of the city - laying sewerage and storm drains, so that sewage does not flow into the bay. We will be able to expand the road in the Tavricheskaya embankment area in order to properly organize pedestrian and vehicular zones. We plan to restore historical buildings, improve the beach, and increase the marina’s capacity.”
For this purpose, agreements have been reached with the Ministry of Defense and the Balaklava Mining Administration, whose territories will be occupied for the expansion of the marina infrastructure and the construction of a multifunctional complex and hotel towns with a total capacity of 1850 beds.
Ten pressing questions
It would seem that we should be happy. However, the projects presented for discussion for some reason caused a wave of negativity from the residents of Balaklava, Sevastopol and Crimea, who, frankly, love Balaklava for what it is. Yes, we need to restore order, regulate traffic, separate traffic flows, organize some kind of transport charter that allows you to leave cars outside the historical part of the city, build storm drains and sewers, restore historical buildings, remove from the face of the town all those elements that do not fit into the image of a distinctive resort.
Lack of uniqueness of the image
Indignation is caused, first of all, by the absence of those elements in the architectural and planning solutions of the proposed project that would highlight the unique image of Balaklava. A project is proposed that is impersonal - such public spaces are recognizable and easily read from those cities where they were once implemented: gray tiles, open areas, sparse landscaping, modest decor in the form of waves on tiles and MAFs presented in the form of concrete and wood benches and trash cans. Residents and regular guests want to see an easily readable, individual image of the town, not impersonal esplanades.
Lack of shade and greenery
The very small amount of greenery on the streets proposed for expansion also causes outrage. I would like to ask those who planned such spaces: have you been to Balaklava in the summer? If so, then why is there so little greenery and shade, why are there so many open spaces that are not at all designed for comfortable relaxation? The area near the yacht center building is especially empty and irrational. Why so much open space? Completely open areas along the coastline without the slightest chance to sit down and look at the sea or the same yachts.
Where we stand
During the implementation of the first stage of integrated development, it is planned to resolve the issue with transport parking, and here is the question: the plan provides for parking for 100 cars, located outside the bay. Nothing is said about multi-seat buses, although in the photo of the project one can roughly estimate the place where they will probably stand, but in the presentation this place is not marked at all. Somehow I would like to compare the designed parking spaces and see how many medium- and large-capacity buses the parking spaces are designed for.
How to get to destinations
A long journey along one side or the other under the scorching sun is such a pleasure even for Crimeans. Especially from the intercept parking in the brick factory area. Is a charter planned, and where is its place on the plan – boarding, disembarking, parking areas? This is a very important point. Taking into account the fact that the nearest car parking is located outside the bay, it is not difficult to imagine the state of guests and residents who will be forced to go to the beaches or piers in the heat, from where they can go to sea.
When will the OKN be put in order?
At the first stage, it is planned to restore several (two?) buildings, and these are not historically significant objects, but the former canteen building of the Metallist plant - it will be rebuilt into a restaurant; the former technical services building on Tavricheskaya Embankment, which will be rebuilt into an administrative building for the needs of the marina; the former administrative building of the border part will be turned into a building that is part of the yacht marina service complex; finally, building 84 NIEB USSR Navy for a hotel complex. What about dachas - OKN objects? When they are included in the Integrated Development Program and go through the stage of reconstruction - competent and tactful, both in relation to the building and to the feelings of local residents.
Comprehensive development from the end
In general, it is not clear that the implementation of the program began with the introduction of a yacht marina into the body of Balaklava. It is clear that those buildings and soil dumps that remain from Balaklava’s Soviet past have no place in the new city. But why do they start with the marina, and not with drawing up a general plan, putting in order already existing OKN objects, with determining and monitoring the style of the architectural development of the city, adjusting the location of streets and monitoring compliance by developers with the red line? Is the plan comprehensive? Or not? An artificially introduced marina with all those beautiful buildings described in the project - won’t they look completely alien? It turns out that they are starting the implementation from the end, as if they started the renovation by updating the floor and, having laid expensive parquet flooring, suddenly began to repair the walls and ceiling.
Stylish or tasteful?
It is difficult to judge the chosen style of architectural development, but it seems that it is somewhat foreign. Thank you that the construction of high-rise buildings is not planned and that they at least somehow tried to camouflage several floors of the border post administration building with mirror cladding. You may say that it is a matter of taste, but in the opinion of some residents who are inexperienced in architecture, mirrors do not fit with the proposed architectural style - eclecticism is not the best option.
Justification for laying the railway
What is its function, workload? Have there been any calculations of passenger demand? Will it be a charter from the cities of Crimea and Sevastopol, or will trains arrive from the mainland? I doubt that yachtsmen will travel by train from the mainland: neglected trains cross the bridge underloaded.
Environmental load of a million tourists: will Balaklava collapse under such pressure?
Finally, some more numbers. I didn’t understand anything about manipulating numbers: now it’s a fashionable topic to force people into a narrow corridor of digital values that are not confirmed by real statistics and can be neither absolute nor relative. They are about nothing at all. There are simply no effective methods for counting tourists who come to Crimea or Balaklava. Therefore, the numbers given at the end of the presentation without indicating the object of visit are especially frightening. If they relate to Balaclava - 1 million planned visits, then I would like to ask one question, what about the environmentally reasonable load? Didn't you think so? Or is this concept completely excluded from calculations? By the way, 600 berths for yachts, taking into account the berths of local residents’ ships, paints a picture worse than Balaklava during the Crimean War.
What should tourists do in Balaklava for a few days?
I would like to ask, what will residents and guests do in Balaklava? Yes, the project has a theater and a cinema. But this is not what Balaklava is famous for, and it is not the theaters that attract tourists here. Such a load on historical objects is unthinkable - they are already working at the limit of their strength, and the load on nature cannot be rationally comprehended at all, especially since there will soon be no nature left at all.
It’s even difficult to draw any unambiguous conclusion about the project. Although no, here it is: the project is not humane in relation to Balaklava itself and not comfortable in relation to its guests. And the picture, yes, is beautiful, but not alive.
Balaklava Reconstruction Project : A Beautiful, but Not Lifelike Picture