Penza, 17 October 2014. PenzaNews. The issue of defining the boundaries of the Penza historic center was one of the main topics for discussion during the second session of the Strategic Development Club that took place in the city hall on the evening of Thursday, October 16.

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City administrators, citizen activists, architects, city planners and entrepreneurs took part in the event.

During the meeting, Dmitry Polishko, chief architect of Penza city, suggested to possible plans to define the edges of the Penza historic center.

The first project defines them along Dolgova, Chekhova, Bakunina and Sverdlova streets, Sura river embankment, the eastern edge of the Belinsky park, and Maksima Gorkovo and Volodarskovo streets.

The second plan sets the historic center within the boundaries drawn by Dolgova, Chekhova, Bakunina, Sverdlova, Kuybisheva and Tambovskaya streets, Sura river embankment, Pervomaysky alleyway, the theories to the west of Burdenko regional hospital and Pedagogical University, as well as Stanislavskovo, Boevaya Gora, Kuraeva, Maksima Gorkovo, Plekhanova and Bakunina streets, and Dzerzhinsky public garden.

Dmitry Polyshko added that the lands within the historic center zone must be given special status, and the officials must choose the criteria for their future development: he suggested building height, style and city planning design as possible criteria.

Sergei Mushtakov-Lentovsky, head of Cultural Heritage Protection and Archives group for the Culture and Archives Department of the Penza Region, noted in his reply that making such decisions comes with great responsibility.

“By recognizing a part of the city as its historical settlement area, we are setting fairly strict limitations to its use in terms of city planning and administration. Building height, style, colors and reconstruction materials will be subject to special rules and regulations. The bad side to the protection zone establishment and the good side to establishing a historical settlement area lies in the fact that protection zones are introduced separately for each object and do not cover the whole area we are looking for,” he explained.

In his turn head of architecture and city planning department and chief architect of the Penza region, Alexander Kuraev stressed the fact that establishing a historical center area may negatively affect construction business development in it.

“The companies will have to strictly follow the rules and regulations. The public prosecution office will monitor them. Therefore, before we make such a decision, there must be a serious economical analysis of its consequences, which requires a complete inspection by a working group. This greatly affects the city and its citizens, because everyone knows how many still-developing objects there are in the city center,” he reminded his colleagues.

The discussion was later joined by other participants.

The speakers were unable to reach the consensus during the debate. At the end, the Strategic Development Club members had no united opinion on the issue of historical city center establishment.