Detailed report (autumn, 2008)

History of deterioration
What has been done so far
Action required

History of deterioration Before 1991, the museum was funded centrally by the Soviet government. Since Ukraine became independent, the only funding for the museum has come from the Ministry of Culture and Arts of the Autonomous Crimean Republic (MCAACR), which provides salaries for half the museum staff in accordance with the approved list of posts, security, and the museum’s utility bills. The Ukrainian government insists that it has no responsibility for the museum since Chekhov was a Russian writer. The Russian government believes the museum should now be funded by Ukraine, since it is located in Ukraine. In 2006 no provision was made for funding the museum by MCAACR at all, and in 2007 it only provided €1,360/ 10,000 UAH. Income from ticket sales is minimal, with entrance for adults costing less than €1.3/ 10 UAH, and so barely compensates the unpaid half of the museum staff.

In August 2004, the old electrical wiring system caught fire, and it proved very difficult to find an electrician. After emergency repairs it was established that the wiring system was so obsolete it was a grave fire hazard, and should not be used. The fire-detection system is in need of complete overhauling. In 2005 it the heating system failed permanently. Alla Khanilo, who has worked at the museum since 1946, when Chekhov’s sister was still alive, cannot remember the situation ever being as bad, noting, for example, that the temperature in the house during the winter of 2005 was -6° C, while during Chekhov’s lifetime it was always 16-17°. The interior temperature was as low or even lower than the outside temperature. The new instruments acquired by the museum for measuring temperature and humidity, meanwhile, only start registering at 15°. The ensuing winters have also been very cold, and the damp has caused the appearance of mould in the walls, and the subsequent deterioration of the wallpaper.

In 2006, the new private owner of the next-door building, previously a sanatorium, began extensive construction work, digging a foundation pit next to the wall of the Chekhov museum’s garden, for example, and removing the excavated gravel by heavy trucks. This has led to cracks appearing in the walls of Chekhov’s house. Letters were sent to ecological organisations such as ‘Ekozemproekt’, subsidence experts, and the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture, which confirmed the legitimacy of the museum’s objections to this construction work – but by this time it was too late. Consequently it was established by the “UkrNIIproektrestovratsiya” survey that accumulation of soil waters on the Museum’s territory will continue to pose threat until a water diversion system is installed higher up the hill from the Museum and the territory around the Dacha is drained.