The first part of the scientific and design documentation, covering emergency procedures and conservation work on the historical building of the New Exchange (Philharmonic Society) was submitted for approval to the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine.

The honoured builder of Ukraine Vladimir Sukhanov, scientific director of the company Ecostroy, which won the tender for the development of the project, reported that the full documentation will be ready by the end of October.

This is a very complex project, voluminous and complex. The building is in a difficult condition, and the project provides for the reinforcement of the foundation, the structure and the rafters. Before that, you will have to dismantle dangerous elements; there are a lot of them.

Vladimir Sukhanov, scientific director of Ecostroy

According to Sukhanov, the project provides for a complete restoration of the building: both the facade and interiors in all rooms, restoration of decorative elements and painting.

In addition to the actual restoration, we solve the issues of engineering networks: ventilation, air conditioning, heating, issues of acoustics and modern stage equipment. We will design night illumination in a separate section, which, unfortunately, such a magnificent building does not have.

Recall that the building of the New Exchange attracted the attention of President Volodymyr Zelensky during his visit to Odessa in September 2020.

The Head of State announced a "large-scale reconstruction" of the building, but over time it became clear that, fortunately, it was all about restoration. Architectural monuments can be restored, but they cannot be reconstructed in any way - according to the law.

In the same month, the Philharmonic was visited by the Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, Oleksandr Tkachenko, who said that the monument should be transferred to State ownership and restored at the expense of the state budget.

To start work, it is necessary to transfer the building to the balance of our Ministry of Culture. We want the Philharmonic to become, like the Odessa Opera, national. And then we will be able to control the process.

Oleksandr Tkachenko, Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine

Tkachenko promised that the restoration will begin next year (that is, in the current 2021) with the repair of the ventilation system. All work will cost UAH 150-170 million, and it is planned to complete them in three years, until 2024.

In the spring of this year, the capital construction department of the regional state administration announced a tender for the development of design estimates for repair and restoration work.

About the historical building

The new exchange was built in 1899 according to the project of Vikentiy Prohaski and Alexander Bernardazzi with money from the Odessa merchants, who even took out a loan. As a result, more than a million rubles were spent on construction, furniture and equipment (a colossal amount for those times, for comparison: the new building of the Opera House cost the city only three hundred thousand more).

The building is made in a mixed style of Venetian Gothic and neo-Renaissance. Initially, the New Trade Exchange was located here. The Philharmonic has occupied it since 1937.