Izvestia: "Hermitage to get General Headquarters"
The museum is expanding.
It will cost 15.7 billion roubles to construct a unified architectural complex for the Hermitage and its new depositary. Director Mikhail Piotrovsky told Prime Minister Vladimir Putin about the details of the reconstruction.
On Dec. 7, 2014, Russia's largest museum will celebrate 250 years since its foundation. The Hermitage's personnel hope a number of events will take place by this occasion. One such event is the completion of the restoration of buildings accommodating the General Headquarters and the Small Hermitage.
During the meeting with Piotrovsky, Putin noted that the country needs "not just to celebrate, but to react to this occasion with a number of long overdue undertakings designed to consolidate the museum."
He made the statement, referring to the need to expand the complex's territory. The General Headquarters located opposite the Winter Palace will be transferred to the museum, Putin added. The Defence Ministry has already agreed.
The museum workers have already started the Hermitage's reconstruction.
The first stage of the General Headquarters, or to be more precise, its left wing, has almost been completed. Only legal paperwork remains. The left wing occupies about 35,000 square metres. It is still unclear which expositions it will accommodate.
Putin noted that the Guards Corps' Headquarters will house the Russian Guards Museum. This was "part of the agreement with the Defence Ministry," he said.
Another two exhibition halls will open in the Small Hermitage that until recently housed the museum's depositaries. The first hall with an entrance to Millionnaya Street will be adjacent to the science library that once housed the Winter Manege. The other hall is known for storing the famous Pergamon Altar brought from Berlin from 1945 to 1958. It was also decided to restore the iconostasis in the Winter Palace.
The Hermitage management is planning to restore the interiors of the halls that are still used as museum depositories. The museum will need more storage area. The first was built by the 300th anniversary of St Petersburg in 2003. A year later, a rich collection of paintings and sculpture, palace furniture and coaches opened to the public at large. This depository has unique technical equipment. The second stage will be completed next year.
The new building will accommodate laboratories for the restoration of furniture and interior decorations, as well as art and media libraries.
Izvestia was told at the Hermitage that now the third stage of construction is being discussed.
"This will be an innovation," Putin told Piotrovsky. "This depository will be open to the public. It will become a public centre for the entire district. There will be hobby groups for children and exhibition halls on a par with the open depositories."
Implementing the jubilee plans will cost 15.7 billion roubles. The majority of this sum will be spent on building the depository.
Anastasia Savinykh and Irina Tumanova
