2024-08-23 03:43:28
After a long drama about the fate of the former Russian consulate in Varna, today the municipality took over the management and announced that it will become a kindergarten.
After a meeting of the handover committee with representatives of the Municipality of Varna and the Regional Administration, the committee inspected the condition of the property and handed over the keys to all premises.
The former Russian Consulate is located in the square between the streets “Prof. Marin Drinov”, “Macedonia” Str., “Ivan Asen I” Str. and “Bratya Miladinovi” Str. near the Varna Municipality building. It is a land property with an area of 4,869 square meters and a massive two-story building with an area of 990 square meters. The entire property is surrounded by a solid metal fence. The building was built in 1980. On the first floor, there are two large halls, which have an outdated but preserved appearance with parquet, wood paneling and plaster ornaments. One of them is a movie theater with a podium, ornaments on the ceiling and textile wall covering.
On the first floor there are also five counters for receiving documents of the consular services, sanitary facilities and a warehouse. On the same floor there are also seven offices with parquet flooring and plaster ornaments on the ceiling. Most of the stairwells have marble steps and stone facing slabs. In one part of the building, the windows have been replaced with new ones, but already worn out, and in another part they have old windows. The stairwell to the second floor has wooden frames.
On the second floor there are offices, some of them with transitional rooms, as well as other rooms in need of renovation. Ceiling leaks were found in a total of two rooms, and plaster had fallen from the ceiling in one. The apartment of the former consul general is located on the second floor, as well as a residential part with six other apartments. The premises have bathrooms, terraces, four of them – and a kitchenette.
In the underground part of the building there is a garage, as well as seven service rooms, in which there are old electric boilers, a non-working ventilation system, a main electrical panel, as well as a three-room sauna.
In the southwestern part of the property, there is an underground tank for diesel fuel. There is also a large courtyard, as well as a garden with vegetables, vines and fruit trees.
The Municipality of Varna plans to mainly renovate the property by building a kindergarten with crèche groups. For this purpose, it is necessary to completely redesign the premises, complete renovation and construction and installation activities in view of the purpose of the building already for educational needs for children.
Before the renovation begins, the Municipality plans to organize an Open Day to give citizens the opportunity to see the former diplomatic building from the inside.
Before it was made available for a kindergarten, there were other ideas for the use of the building. One was to use the property for the activities of the “Pencho Slaveykov” Regional Library, which does not have enough premises and working environment, and the other – to make it available for use by the Municipal Council, since the municipal councilors and the groups in the Council had an acute shortage of premises in which to carry out their activities.
The Russian consulate in Varna is the second and last – apart from the Russian Embassy in Sofia, a representative office of Russia, which closed in our country after the start of the war in Ukraine and the declaration of us as an enemy country by the Putin regime.