There are many abandoned buildings in Dnieper, among them many small private houses, modern buildings not used for various reasons. And even in the long-suffering Ilyich Palace there is life.
However, the abandonment that I want to talk about claims to be the most grandiose – because it is, without exaggeration, a palace!
Palace of Prevention in Dnipropetrovsk
In the early 1920s, the present area of Nigoyan Avenue (former Kalinin Avenue) and Bogdan Khmelnitsky (Petrovsky ave) Avenue was rapidly developing. If today it is a depressive area in Dnipropetrovsk, at that time it was a priority in the development of the city. Not surprisingly, the fact that the factories were located here encouraged the construction of housing for workers and other infrastructure. It was also necessary to improve the health of the people, and therefore there began to build a grandiose building, for those times, which would serve the purpose of protecting the health of the citizens.
This is how the Palace of Health would appear. It would begin construction in 1923 or 1924 and be inaugurated in 1927. It would not be a typical, but pompous polyclinic building – a real palace indeed. On the opening day, even the People’s Commissar of Health himself sent a congratulatory telegram – so that the facility would certainly not take much attention.
Alexander Krasnoselsky will be the architect of the new hospital. He has already made his mark in Yekaterinoslav with many grandiose buildings, such as the anatomical building of the Medical University. Later, 100 meters away, he will build the Ilyich Palace.
This architect lived all his life in the city, building both before the 1917 revolution and under Soviet rule. He died of old age in 1944.
Krasnoselsky purposely made his building large. Here it was supposed not only to treat people, but also to educate in terms of health. The author departed from the canons of the classical style and made the main building smaller than the side sections. And there will also be majestic columns and monuments in front of the entrance.
As a result, the Palace of Health, or as it will be called later, the Palace of Prevention, will be a large three-story building. Its main entrance is surmounted by a majestic dome with images of the signs of medicine, columns of granite and a large door more than 2 meters high with a hammer and sickle (soviet union symbol).
Such an entrance can’t be found anywhere else in the buildings of Dnepropetrovsk and Dnipro city. In its lobby will be held exhibitions, scientific and educational events. Inside, there are stairs with columns and panoramic windows. There is also a basement floor, which housed utility rooms and laboratories.
The central entrance is truly mesmerizing, even now that it is falling into disrepair.
In its lobby, exhibitions, scientific and educational events will be held. This is the purpose of the building and the reason for its size.
Soon this facility will even give a name to the neighboring street – it will be called Prophylactic (now it is Shcherban Street) and Shcherban Park also used to be called “Park of the Palace of Prophylactics”.
Why did architect Krasnoselsky regret his brainchild?
On the whole, the new building resembled not a hospital for the Soviet worker, but a real palace somewhere in Italy in the seventeenth century.
Krasnoselsky built the palace in the style of Neoclassicism, the pompous style of the old time, although in those years Soviet architecture was steadily shifting from smooth graceful forms to the crude features of constructivism.
Because of this, the master was very worried. At a time when classicism was already a thing of the past, he built what he considered “too luxurious”. And he blamed himself for it.
The fate of the palace
Immediately after its opening, they began to expand the list of medical services and improve the equipment. During World War II and the German occupation the building was badly damaged. It had to be redesigned to rebuild it, the huge inscription “Palace of Health Protection” disappeared, and the courtyard was rebuilt – it became not so beautiful, but more practical.
Prevention Palace Now (2023)
Until 2016, it housed the 2nd Workers’ Hospital. In the same year, the building was removed from the register of monuments and the hospital was closed. Even then, the building was in a state of disrepair and no one was going to repair it. The doctors moved out, and the building itself was left to deteriorate.
In 2017, there was a fire, after which the Palace of Prevention lost its roof, windows, part of the walls and the ceilings between the floors.
But even then the damage was not critical. It was possible to repair everything.
I visited this place in February 2023. The view is depressing. There is no fence on the property, a lot of garbage. There are holes shining out of the walls, windows without glass. There are stone bowls scattered near the front entrance. The only thing that fascinates with its grandeur are the very doors and the dome. Even half-destroyed – it still looks powerful.
If you enter through the main entrance – immediately behind the doors there is no floor – a big hole to the basement floor. An interesting point – behind the palace there is something resembling a basement – but only outside the building itself, separate from it and connected by an entrance from the clinic. It’s an interesting solution.
The second and third floors of the central building are not accessible – the ceilings are ruined.
You can only enter from the side buildings and that one that stands closer to Scherban street. There is a lot of garbage inside, including medical garbage, and a lot of branded bricks among the construction ruins. It is immediately obvious that this is a very old structure. Indeed, in 2023 it will be exactly one hundred years since the construction of the Palace of Prevention began.
What will happen to the Palace?
At one time there were reports that the building would be rebuilt. A couple of years ago, there wasn’t such catastrophic destruction. The roof and floors were preserved. Not long ago there were tours and they say there is even a project to revive the legendary Krasnoselsky’s creation. And only recently serious destructions were discovered.
There is a feeling that this is not a natural process and that the former hospital is being purposefully dismantled for building materials.
However! When I was here – did not notice anything suspicious to hint at intentional dismantling.
The building is on the balance sheet of the Dnipro city, and officials say they are ready to give it to anyone who is willing to invest in its reconstruction. However, no such investors have been found yet. In the meantime, the Palace of Prevention is deteriorating more and more, and may not live to see its 100th anniversary.
How to get to the Palace in Dnipro city?
The location is located at 1 Scherbania Street, Novokodatsky district. On the map it is marked as “Maternity Hospital of the City Clinical Hospital #2”. You can get there by own transport or by bus from any part of the city.