The Center for Contemporary Culture in Gaidar Park is a project for the comprehensive redevelopment of the A. P. Gaidar Culture and Recreation Park in Arzamas, under implementation since 2019. The park is located on Lenin Avenue and is a municipal autonomous cultural institution of the city of Arzamas.[1] The project has twice won the All-Russian Competition for the Best Projects for Creating a Comfortable Urban Environment in Small Towns and Historic Settlements — in 2018 and 2026.[1][2]
History and Implementation
In 2018, following a rating vote on the park's redevelopment, more than 60% of the city's residents voted in its favor — the highest figure among all proposed sites.[1] The city administration, together with the park's management, held events to engage residents in developing the concept. To refine the concept and participate in the competition, the team of the ANO "Institute for Urban Environment Development of Nizhny Novgorod Region" (IRGSNO) joined the project.[1]
The project's authors are Darya Shorina, Kirill Brosalin, Vyacheslav Kochkin, Dmitry Baranov, Kirill Filchenkov, Aleksandr Ablesimov, Aleksey Yeliseyev, Kirill Kuzmichev, Yuliya Shumilkina, and Aleksandr Kuritsyn (ANO IRGSNO); the working designs were produced by NNGASU and Nizhny Novgorod Promstroyproekt.[1] The park's total area is 25.9 hectares; the built area of the first phase is 3.33 hectares.[1]
In late 2018, the design and cost documentation was developed. Construction of the first phase began in the summer of 2019 and was completed in December of that year.[1] The first phase included the main park entrance, a sports alley with team-game courts and a workout area, and event spaces for cultural and festival activities by the lake.[1] Subsequent phases provide for the renovation of the children's alley and rides, a landscape zone, and an arboretum area.[1]
Concept
The project's central idea is expressed as "Hero + Place." The hero is writer Arkady Gaidar, after whom the park is named. The history of the site is revealed through the preserved terrain: the park retains pits left from clay extraction, which was used to produce the bricks that built the historic part of Arzamas. Ceramic brick is employed in the concept both as a construction material and as a modular design element.[1]
The concept aims for the phased development of the park as a multifunctional, all-season, and inclusive urban space. The project establishes a unified design code for the park and fills it with points of attraction for all age groups.[1]
Victory in the 2026 Competition
In August 2026, the Arzamas project again won the All-Russian Competition for the Best Projects for Creating a Comfortable Urban Environment in Small Towns and Historic Settlements.[2] That year, five projects from Nizhny Novgorod Region won the competition in total: in addition to the Arzamas project, these were the comprehensive redevelopment project for Lenin Street (Bor), the Sarov project "Park 'Poznaniye' — A Territory of Discovery," the Semyonov project "The Blue of the Semyonov Forests" for the development of a museum-factory cluster, and the renewal of Soviet Square with the restoration of the Bogoroditse-Rozhdestvenskaya Church and the Moscow House in Balakhna).[2]
Gleb Nikitin noted that, counting the 2026 winners, more than 50 projects from Nizhny Novgorod Region had been recognized in the competition over the entire time it has been held. Among previously completed projects he cited Uren, the central square of Dzerzhinsk, and the Gorodets Museum Quarter.[2]