Detailed report (autumn 2008)
History of deterioration
What has been done so far
Action required
What has been done so far. The 2003 appeal to the Presidents of Russia and Ukraine (see extract from Chekhov: Scenes from a Life) went unanswered.
Since becoming the Chekhov House Museum director three years ago, Alla Golavacheva has been tirelessly campaigning in a bid to find sponsorship to restore this unique museum and secure its future survival. She has appealed to prominent Russian and Ukrainian politicians and businessmen. Contributions have been small:
In March 2006 the former director of the museum appealed for financial help to the Russian banker Alexander Lebedev, who has undertaken the restoration of the Yalta Theatre. This is where the Moscow Art Theatre performed Uncle Vanya for Chekhov in 1900. In May 2008, Mr Lebedev provided funding for some of the most urgent repairs at the Chekhov House. These repairs were carried out according to the extensive survey carried out by the Ukrainian organisation “UkrNIIproektrestavratsiya”, which was paid for in 2006 by the mayor of Moscow Yury Luzhkov. Apart from work carried out on the roof, the repairs, while welcome, are mainly cosmetic. Unless the heating and drainage problems are attended to, the problems faced by the museum will reoccur.
In October 2006, the head of the Russian political party "Spravedlivaya Rossia", Sergei Mironov, donated €20,475/ 150,494 UAH to the museum. The funds were immediately used to fix the defective electrical wiring system and set up a modern alarm system.
In February 2007, the Yalta branch of the Ukrainian political party "Partiya regionov", following an appeal by MP Dmitry Belyaev, made an indirect donation by contriubting €10,000/ 75,000 UAH to the municipal heating service in Yalta. This resulted in the installation of a modern central heating system in the Chekhov House in March 2007. It has unfortunately proven to be ineffective. The diameter of the upgraded pipeline connecting the new gas boiler-house to the museum building two times as narrow as it should be, and also now runs overground, thus losing nearly all its heat on the way.
Other minor donations have been received, including 2000 bulbs, rare rose bushes and other flowers for Chekhov’s garden, collected as a part of a campaign launched by Elena Illesh, editor of the Moscow magazine Vestnik tsvetovoda [Flower Grower’s News]. Chekhov’s garden is also in need of extensive renovation and many of the trees he planted require urgent surgery.
