Modern complexes shall be built here in addition to the capital’s zoo and Minsk’s 900th Anniversary Park. “A ‘Disneyland’ style site is to appear. Chizhovka-Arena cultural-entertainment and sporting complex shall be built. Additionally, the zoo is to gain a third section and the Belarusian Heritage Ethno-Cultural Centre is to appear. Meanwhile, Minsk’s 900th Anniversary Park will gain a new ideology of development,” explains Minsk’s Mayor, Nikolai Ladutko.Speaking at a recent meeting at the Mayoral Office, he noted that it will be a modern, attractive and, importantly, profitable recreational area for the city.
Chizhovka-Arena will be able to host 7,000 people, welcoming international level championships, offering various sports and concert facilities at a high level. Apart from its modern ice arena, it will have basketball and volleyball courts, a conference hall and a restaurant seating 200, as well as other leisure areas.
The Belarusian Heritage Centre will be unique for Minsk, covering 35 hectares. Its open-air museum is to promote the preservation and development of Belarusian culture and the extension of the tourist services market. Knightly palaces, bakeries, a mill, thematic areas and pavilions will reveal Belarus of old, delighting history lovers. All periods of our history are to be brought to life, including the ‘Capital City’ pavilion dedicated to the old principalities; it will feature a fortress wall with gates, a voevoda’s house and other objects from past times. At the ‘Village Yard’, anyone will be able to celebrate the festivals of Kupalle, Kolyady and Maslenitsa while ‘Pan’s Mansion’ is to recreate the life of the 18th-19th century gentry, offering horse riding. A forest and natural environment site should also attract interest, as will a fisherman’s home, the house of a marsh witch, a beehive yard and small open-air cages of animals. Each area will have its own mood.
Meanwhile, the ‘Famous People of Belarus’ pavilion and an exhibition-information centre of technical achievements are to demonstrate the feel of modern Belarus. The construction of the Ethno-Cultural Centre’s transport infrastructure is to start next year.
By Oksana Shikut
