Central Park of Culture and Leisure named after Shcherbakov is a recreation park in

Donetsk Donetsk ( , ; uk, Донецьк, translit=Donets'k ; russian: Донецк ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin and Stalino (see also: cities' alternative names), is an industrial city in eastern Ukraine loca ...

. It is located in Voroshylovskyi Raion, in the west it matches with stadium Shakhtar, and in the north there is the Second city

pond A pond is an area filled with water, either natural or artificial, that is smaller than a lake. Defining them to be less than in area, less than deep, and with less than 30% emergent vegetation helps in distinguishing their ecology from ...

. Park was open in 1932. There are

rides Amusement rides, sometimes called carnival rides, are mechanical devices or structures that move people especially kids to create fun and enjoyment. Rides are often perceived by many as being scary or more dangerous than they actually are. This ...

playgrounds A playground, playpark, or play area is a place designed to provide an environment for children that facilitates play, typically outdoors. While a playground is usually designed for children, some are designed for other age groups, or people w ...

, alleys for hiking and other recreational facilities available for visitors. The park is named after Alexander Sergeevich Shcherbakov, who was the Secretary of the Donetsk Oblast Party Committee in 1938. However, the original name was different – at first the park was named after Pavel Petrovich Postyshev, but the park was renamed after the last had been arrested.

Formation of the park

The park is located in Skoromoshnaya gully, which was the meeting place for workers of Yuzovsky metallurgical plant and the nearby

coal mines Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron fro ...

in the 19th century. A travelling circus stayed here, and mass celebrations were held. In 1891 the river was blocked by a dam, resulting in a first city pond that provided the steel works with water. In 1931 they decided to create a park, and in September 1932 10 000 Komsomol members and the city pioneers started work on park creation. 120 hectares of the open steppe land area near river Bakhmutka (First city pond) in the Skomoroshnaya gully was allocated for the park. In 1933 the alleys were established lined with chestnut trees,

lime tree ''Tilia'' is a genus of about 30 species of trees or bushes, native throughout most of the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The tree is known as linden for the European species, and basswood for North American species. In Britain and Ireland they ...

s and poplars. On opening day, about sixty thousand people visited the park.

Amusement rides Amusement rides, sometimes called carnival rides, are mechanical devices or structures that move people especially kids to create fun and enjoyment. Rides are often perceived by many as being scary or more dangerous than they actually are. This ...

started functioning in 1934. Later, the area of the park was increased to 200 hectares, yet reduced to 96 hectares by 2000. At the initial planning except the Central Park there were separate functional zones: a Central Beach park, Amusement park, Regional Park "Medium Ponds", landscape park "Urban forest" and the "Upper" landscape park. The park is located along the coastline of connected ponds, and landscape compositions, most open to the water area direction. In the center the terraces are situated, the lowest of which is the

parterre A ''parterre'' is a part of a formal garden constructed on a level substrate, consisting of symmetrical patterns, made up by plant beds, low hedges or coloured gravels, which are separated and connected by paths. Typically it was the part of ...

, which is the basis of the composition. The stadium Shakhtar is built on the upper terrace in 1936 (designed by architects Georgy Nawrocki and S. Severin). In 1932 the park held an agricultural exhibition, for which

pavilions In architecture, ''pavilion'' has several meanings: * It may be a subsidiary building that is either positioned separately or as an attachment to a main building. Often it is associated with pleasure. In palaces and traditional mansions of Asia ...

were built. Before 2008 the entrance to the park from Stadionnaya street looked like a group of

columns A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression membe ...

with

cornices In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...

; in 2008 it was decorated with ornate metal gates and became a major entrance. In the postwar period in the park there were about a hundred names of

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

and shrub species, and the 1955 edition "Donbass Parks" referred to Shcherbakov park as to one of the best parks in Donbas. On November 15, 2008, Donetsk journalists established "Alley of Journalists". In 2006 reconstruction of the large park started, "Donetskproekt" fulfilled the pre-design for improvement of the waterfront in the park. During the reconstruction, the pond embankment was reinforced and purged. In 2008 forged pavilion was established in the park and rosary with variety of roses was made.

Sculptures

The sculptural decoration of the park of the Soviet times was ideology-determined. White statue of

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...

was established in front of the bridge framed in acacia and dominated over the whole complex of the central park. Behind the back of Stalin statue there was a sculpture of athlete jumping into the water and the fountain with athletes' sculptures who were holding a vase in outstretched hands. In the fountain bowl there was a sculpture of a Sportswoman with ball. Stadium "Shakhtar" was decorated with monumental sculptures on the second floor. The sculptures of the postwar period were dismantled in 1970 during reconstruction of the central part of the park. During the renovation of the park in 2006–2008, a statue of the ancient girl with a

jar A jar is a rigid, cylindrical or slightly conical container, typically made of glass, ceramic, or plastic, with a wide mouth or opening that can be closed with a lid, screw cap, lug cap, cork stopper, roll-on cap, crimp-on cap, press-on c ...

was placed on the banking of the "First" pond. Also in 2008, in order to commemorate the City and the Miner's Day the "Good Angel of Peace" was established in the Park as international symbol of patronage. On the statue basis the names of famous

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

patrons Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...

are carved: Nickolay Tereshchenko, Bogdan Khanenko, Vasiliy Tarnovskiy,

Rinat Akhmetov Rinat Leonidovych Akhmetov, ; russian: Ринат Леонидович Ахметов, ; tt-Cyrl, Ринат Леонид улы Әхмәтов, translit=Rinat Leonid uly Äkhmätov (born on 21 September 1966) is a Ukrainian billionaire and b ...

and others. In 2008, 46 wooden sculptures depicting fantasy characters were established in the Park.

Fountains

The fountain with athletes sculptures was dismantled in 1970 during reconstruction of the central part of the park, and replaced by a fountain, surrounded by a

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). ...

. A cascade of fountains was organized from the central area to the bridge. Fountains of the 1970s were dismantled in the 2000s (decade). In 2007 a new fountain, consisting of 6 cups, lined with marble was open in the park. 200 lights are used in the fountain construction. During the renovation of the Park in 2006-2008 at the entrance from Stadionnaya street a new fountain was installed.

Attractions

Children's Railway named after Kirov was launched on November 24, 1936. The

train In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and transport people or freight. Trains are typically pulled or pushed by locomotives (often ...

consisted of two coupled together

trams A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport ar ...

, and the road line length was of about one kilometer. Due to the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

outbreak, Kirov Children's Railway ceased to exist and was never rebuilt. The park also previously had a musical shell, a summer theater for 1000 spectators, "Green" summer cinema for 2,200 seats, a dance floor, a restaurant, parachute tower (existed until 1970), reading,

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

and

checkers Checkers (American English), also known as draughts (; British English), is a group of strategy board games for two players which involve diagonal moves of uniform game pieces and mandatory captures by jumping over opponent pieces. Checkers ...

pavilions. Currently, 23 kinds of amusement rides are working in the park, the boat station offers

boats A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size, shape, cargo or passenger capacity, or its ability to carry boats. Small boats are typically found on inl ...

and

catamarans A Formula 16 beachable catamaran Powered catamaran passenger ferry at Salem, Massachusetts, United States A catamaran () (informally, a "cat") is a multi-hulled watercraft featuring two parallel hulls of equal size. It is a geometry-stab ...

to hire. In 2009 Dolphinarium "Nemo" was open as a part of the national complex of cultural and recreational centres «Nemo». The (at the time abandoned) dolphinarium was destroyed in a fire in November 2016.

Gallery

File:1938. Фонтан в парке Постышева.jpg , 1938, fountain in the Postyshev park File:1939. Памятник Сталину в Сталино.jpg , Monument to Joseph Stalin File:Парк Щербакова 064.jpg , Roses in Shcherbakov park File:Парк Щербакова 080.jpg , Open dance floor File:Парк Щербакова. Фонтан 2.jpg , Fountain File:Парк Щербакова. Добрый ангел Мира 2.jpg , "Good Angel of Peace" File:Парк Щербакова. Ворота.jpg , Main entrance File:Парк Щербакова 103.jpg , Pond view

References

External links

Central Park of Culture and Leisure named after Shcherbakov official site
{{in lang, ru
Nemo Dolphinarium official webpage
* park in Donetsk on Wikicommons Culture in Donetsk Tourist attractions in Donetsk Oblast Amusement parks in Ukraine Parks in Ukraine