Old Town of Lutsk and modern property developments

It has been known for a long time that Old Town Historical and Cultural Reserve of Lutsk’s office building is deteriorating. Cracks on the walls and the way it is sinking because it was built on the site of the Lutsk Castle moat are easily seen. The moat has been filled up, but groundwaters and branching catacombs crisscrossing Old Town beneath ground still undermine the building.

The current scare of sorts has been caused by the recently appointed director of the reserve Pavlo Rudetsky’s appeal to the regional state administration calling on it “to create a commission tasked with inspecting the building” and providing recommendations on the reconstruction. The building at No. 28, Drahomanova St. houses not only the reserve’s management, but a museum dedicated to Lesia Ukrainka (Larysa Kosach), too, because the Kosach family rented an apartment there during their stay in Lutsk in 1890-91. It was in Lutsk that young Lesia caught a cold while she was watching the blessing of the Styr river water near the castle during Epiphany celebrations, and it was there, too, that she wrote “Hope,” her first poem. Nowadays, the worst problem of all is the fact that the supporting wall in the building’s first floor is collapsing, and unless immediate action is taken, the whole building can simply collapse.

Unfortunately, the local authorities have so far failed to use Old Town of Lutsk even as a “milk cow” for their coffers. Despite the medieval castle having been recognized as one of the Seven Wonders of Ukraine and the catacombs beneath the Roman Catholic Church of Saints Peter and Paul impressing tourists from around the world, the area is treated like a red-haired stepchild by the authorities. The reserve’s area is being built up with strikingly inappropriate structures which are completely alien to Old Town’s architectural style. It looks rather neglected. For example, a three-storey commercial and residential project has been approved by the city council after a prolonged debate, to be developed at No. 13, Kafedralna St., that is, near the reserve’s office building that once housed the Kosaches. Purportedly, the development will be a restoration of the building that once stood on the plot. Another large project is being developed in the same neighborhood for the seventh year running, its purpose unclear and floor count having gone up from the two that had been planned early on. The current city administration believes that Old Town needs to be developed for it to be an adornment of Lutsk. However, as soon as the developer started construction in the reserve’s heart at No. 13, Kafedralna St., the remnants of the 17th century structures were found there, causing the work to stop while further excavations are being conducted.

Director of Volyn Antiquities State Enterprise Oleksii Zlatohorsky admits that he is not that happy with the excavation work. Due to personnel and funding shortages, he is unable to complete it before cold, rainy, and snowy weather comes, as the archaeologists have, in fact, enough work cut for them for decades to come! He says Lutsk has not seen a complete excavation on such large scale before. His enterprise may become the first to conduct thorough study of Lutsk’s antiquities, but Zlatohorsky is ready to make way for a better-prepared institution since he recognizes that these excavations can bring a Pompei-like disaster to many nearby attractions. Property developments in the center of the reserve are even more likely to transform it into a new Pompei. Actually, a house near the one-time home of the Kosaches is deteriorating even faster than the latter is.