Status of palace restoration?

[Nathan_Davis]

I was wondering if Bob Atchison might be able to give us an update on the on-going plans for the restoration of the Alexander Palace?

With thanks,

Nathan  

[Nathan_Davis]

  ...or, if not Mr. Atchison...is there perhaps anyone else who might be able to give us an update on the state of things? Thank you!

Best wishes,

Nathan

[ChristineM]

There is no restoration being carried out at the Alexander Palace at present.  

The ground (first) floor rooms of the last Imperial Family are open to the public, but, with the exception of the New Study and the Tsar's Reception Room, these are used purely as exhibition space.

tsaria

[Douglas]

I read on another AP thread that part of the roof of the Alexander Palace has caved in.  Is this true?  If true, this is a sign of sure disaster as winter  with it's snow and rain is just around the corner.

[helenazar]

I spoke to one of the curators at the AP yesterday and specifically asked about the roof caving in. She said that although the roof is in sad shape, has leaks, etc., it has not caved in. Yes, the leaks are there but this is not a recent event. Most of the palace is still owned and occupied by a government organization, and presumably they are working on making sure that more damage is not done through the roof in the winter. The palace is indeed in very sad shape and it does not look like any restoration work has been done on it since last year when I visited. And it won't be until the palace belongs to the TS Museum.
The left wing, where the permanent exhibit is located looks better than the rest, but I am not sure if this is just cosmetic. About three fourths of the palace are more or less falling apart, at least this is the way it looks to me. In the back, where the entrance to the oval hall is, the whole area looks completely neglected, and overgrown with weeds. It is also fenced off with barbed wire, so you can't get near it. It's very sad actually.
I am hoping, as I am sure many of us are, that the transfer to the TS Museum takes place soon and the restoration work can begin...

[Laura Mabee]

Is there talks of transfer to TS Museum? That's great news. I just hope it happens sooner then later, as you said. I am worried that some parts are beyond restoration. In your travels, did you happen to get any pictures of the damage?

[helenazar]

Is there talks of transfer to TS Museum? That's great news. I just hope it happens sooner then later, as you said. I am worried that some parts are beyond restoration. In your travels, did you happen to get any pictures of the damage?

Yes, there is definitely going to be a transfer, it's more than talk, except no one knows when it will actually happen. They think soon, but that means several years at least. The government is still occupying most of the building. Yes, I got lots of pictures of the damage, but not sure how well you would be able to see it in the photos.

BTW, I walked around the palace yesterday and took a look at the roof, but didn't see anything collapsed. Antonio, where exactly did you see it, where is the Marble Hall? Do you mean the oval? The roof is still there as far as I can see...

The AP is not beyond restoration at all. It is in much better shape than Catherine Palace was post WWII, and they had restored that very well, so I wouldn't be concerned that the AP won't be. In fact, relatively speaking, the AP is in pretty good shape for restoration, all the structure is original, unlike the CP...

[hikaru]

 I think that they can not begin restoration because the museum have no ownership of the building yet.

[Dominic_Albanese]

Can someone help me understand the thinking behind what get's restored and what doesn't get restored in Russia?

I admit this is a fairly simplistic line of thought on my part, but given the never ending interest in N&A why is the Russian Government so unwilling to restore the Alexander Palace?

Space for government offices?  That seems unlikely to me.  Space is a reasonably easy problem to solve for a government.

Does the Russian Government not realize the possibility of revenue generation by a aggressive tourism industry?

Is there still a sense at some level by the Russian Government that they do not want to glorify N & A?

Is there something else I'm missing?

It has already seemed to me that the Russians are sitting on a potential gold mind in tourism dollars.  Granted, the tourism infastructure is not that strong yet, but there doesn't seem to even be a plan...

Why wouldn't you want to restore the Alexander Palace to it's pre revolution splendor and use it as a huge tourist draw.?.

Thoughts welcomed, I've never understood this one.

best,
dca

ps. this thought was as a result of my reading another article I just posted in the NEWS thread realted to a 30% drop in tourism.

[hikaru]

Dominic!
How expressive!
It is not Government, It is museum who decides where to use the money. It is museum who is trying to obtaine the restoration money.
I do not know if  even one part of ALexandr Palace  belongs to the Tsarskoe Selo museum or not.
As for tourist's income the main income source of Tsarskoe Selo is Catherine Palace. And it will be always like this, because standart  tourists groups have no time to go to the Alexander Palace.
(By the way, there are more than 100 palaces in Petersburg and around which needed to be restored permanently)

But of course, it would be great if the AP will be restored.

[Dominic_Albanese]

Hikaru - thank you.  It does make sense to me that the Catherine Palace would be a bigger draw - especially given the level of restoration in that palace vs. the Alexander Palace.

Is there interest on the behalf of the Tourism office in restoring the Alexander Palace.  Do the people in and around St. Petersburg care about it?

I just have trouble understanding why that wouldn't be a priority given the ongoing international interest in N&A.

Is there any 'back lash' or negative feelings about restoring things important to the reign of N II vs. earlier reigns?

Many thanks for your feedback!

best,

dca

[hikaru]

I think that the main problem, it is the ownership of the building.
As for interest to the Nicholas ,  I think that there is no special interest. ( Everybody does not like him for the revolution)
I think that if the palace will be restored everybody would like to go and see.
WHen I said about standart tourist groups ,  I was speaking only about foreign groups - if you will come as the tourist of the standart package group , you will have no time even to give a glance to the Alexandr Palace.

[Forum Admin]

The AP still technically belongs to the Navy. They still technically occupy the Parade rooms and other wing not open to the public. They have been ordered by the government to turn possession and ownership over to the State Museum Preserve, but have not done so yet. When they will is the question as Helen said. It is not simply the Navy dragging its feet. The State Museum will be financially responsible for the bills once transfer is complete and they don't have the funding to take it on, much less any restoration.

As for possiblity of restoration, Bob worked with the World Monuments Fund on a total analysis of the building in terms of restoration.  This is when he got American Express to donate the money for the new roof over the wing now open to the public. The building is in fairly complete original condition, but needing extensive restoration.  The Catherine was an empy gutted shell, in comparison. Restoration of the AP is totally possible, given the funds can be found to make it happen.

[Laura Mabee]

Thanks for the info everyone!

I have another question on the AP, could there be a donation like organization that would collect donations and hand them to the AP? I know it wouldn't be millions but it would be something. Where would one send a donation like this? Or for that matter, collection donations?

[hikaru]

I am sure that every donation shoud be sent attn to Mr. Sautov, director of museum complex "Tsarskoe Selo"
He would be very glad.
(So Museum could buy some furniture or things for AP for donation money)