Cherkasy regional Internet publication Pro Holovne reported on October 19 that an authentic wealthy chumak (salt trader)’s hut, over 200 years old, had been destroyed in Moryntsi, Shevchenko’s birthplace. Liudmyla Kovalenko’s piece, illustrated by photographs of the ruined building, contained, in particular, the following passage: “A pile of wood is all what is left from the hut, while workers are raking away clay fragments that have fallen off the walls. Purportedly, the hut will be reassembled anew, although it is unclear then why it, being in good repair, was destroyed in the first place? Its beams and window frames are made of good wood, because chumaks were fairly well-off in those days. The hut could live on. However, you know, the regional government cannot survive without embezzling public funds! Frost will come soon, and thousands of people from around the world will come to this region in March. The 18th to 19th centuries’ folk building technique requires the hut to be left to dry out after assembly. Only God knows what wreck will they slap together under sub-zero temperatures on the chumak’s hut’s site in Moryntsi,” Kovalenko noted. Clearly, such shocking news was reposted right away by quite a few online media.
The Day requested comments from the National Reserve “Taras Shevchenko’s Homeland.” On calling the office of its director general Oleksandr Komarenko, we were told that he left for Moryntsi and advised to call him on his mobile phone. However, the director was clearly not inclined to talk to us. “The hut is not a listed monument, and we have nothing to do with it. It is being restored according to the design and budget that have expert approval. I suggest you contact the village council, and they will tell you where all of this comes from,” the reserve’s head snapped out in reply.
Moryntsi village head Stepan Kyrychenko, in his turn, urged us not to kick up a racket for no reason, and described Kovalenko’s piece as an action of his opponents. “The chumak’s hut was in very poor condition. People were afraid to go in because of terrible rot and mold. We are reconstructing it, it is a planned work. Funds for it have not been allocated yet, but the project is in the program of Shevchenko’s 200th anniversary celebrations. We want to do this good deed to mark the anniversary,” Kyrychenko told The Day.
As for the allegations that the hut was actually destroyed, the village head denied them: “We have every pillar stored separately and marked. About 70 percent of the building materials will be replaced. The hut has been neither disassembled nor demolished.” By the way, Kyrychenko denied that the building was a village property. “We transferred it to the National Reserve ‘Taras Shevchenko’s Homeland’ half a year ago. The hut was valued at as little as 48 hryvnias. Now, while they have not had the funding allocated yet, they are asking us to at least start working before frost comes, so as to finish it in time for the 200th anniversary. We have just started working before the decision on the allocation of funds would be taken,” he said. “We were scarcely able to find people licensed to perform such work and willing to start without payment. Head of district administration and district council chairperson came to my office lately and assured me that the funding will come.”
Deputy head of Cherkasy region’s culture department, head of its cultural heritage, protected areas, and religious affairs bureau Mykola Sukhovy confirmed Kyrychenko’s statement. “The hut is neither a memorial farmstead nor a listed monument, but we need to restore it as a tourist sight. It is in disrepair now, and we have a two-part design developed, comprising both reconstruction of the hut and recreation of the structures that have not survived to this day, that is, stable, barn, well, etc. Recreation will involve building these structures of modern wood, while reconstruction of the hut will include its disassembling, laying of a new foundation and reassembling according to the modern building requirements.” As for the fresh scandal, the expert said: “No surprises for me here. We saw similar things eight years ago with Viacheslav Chornovil’s farmstead. The hut there was in even worse disrepair, it was disassembled, too, and the affair caused a similar uproar.” The official explained that the funding issue was being resolved. “The regional government has already provided some of it, but we will not wait for a full funding package. Should it fail to materialize, we will just abandon the external structures’ recreation project, but still transform the hut itself into a decent tourist sight,” Sukhovy concluded.
