It seems likely that, following a radical building boom on Khreshchatyk and Independence Square, construction in Kyiv is assuming grandiose proportions, giving rise to a peculiar tradition of embarking on large-scale construction projects as soon as the warm season sets in. The wave of construction is spreading outward from Kyiv’s thoroughfares, the Golden Gates, and the Besarabian Market areas. Moreover, as Head of Kyiv’s Department for the Protection of Historic and Cultural Monuments Ruslan Kukharenko announced, the capital’s authorities plan to complete the construction of the Church of the Nativity in Postal Square by late 2002 – early 2003. According to Interfax- Ukrayina, the official declared that, due to the beginning of the construction project, a pavilion housing a McDonald’s must be pulled down. Mr. Kukharenko noted, or rather warned, that the construction of the church might force the authorities to clear more areas in Postal Square. He also said that the first brick is slated to be lain in the church building this week, adding that crosses on the church’s domes are to be mounted by late 2002 or Orthodox Christmas on January 6, 2003, following which the builders will begin construction inside the church.
The idea to rebuild the church in which the burial service to Taras Shevchenko was read in 1861 deserves every praise. However, there are two substantial ifs. First, the intention of the authorities to scrap the McDonald’s restaurant in Postal Square may raise a few eyebrows, especially since the company had not received any notification from the city fathers with regard to pulling down the pavilion, McDonald’s public relations officer Oleh Strekal told The Day. He said that the McDonald’s in Postal Square was among the first built in Kyiv in 1999 after the company had moved to Ukraine and has a lease on its present land site expiring only in 2009. According to Mr. Strekal, the company is in the possession of all the requisite documents. In case of closure, the McDonald’s present staff of 70 will lose their jobs. In the light of the mayor recent pledge to solve the problem of unemployment in the capital, such a declaration by a highly placed municipal official cannot be understood.
Second, the historic value of the church which is going to be rebuilt is open to question. The church in which a burial service was read for Shevchenko cannot be built in the 21st century as it will be merely its duplicate. This kind of reconstruction resembles erecting a monument to another monument, Vice Rector for Research at the National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture Leonid Prybieha said in an interview with The Day published in the March 13, 2002 issue. He also added that newly built monuments should be in unison with the existing architectural style and environment on the square. Theoretically speaking, the proposed church is to fit into the present Postal Square ensemble, with McDonald’s pavilion being part of it. This is bare theory, and something Kyiv residents will see soon for themselves.
