650 thousand UAH, which gallery owner and former director of the "Art Arsenal" Natalia Zabolotna collected for the reconstruction of the "Leontovych House" in the Vinnytsia region a few years ago, has vanished without a trace, while the building itself stands in ruins awaiting demolition. This was reported in a publication by RBK-Ukraine. Writes https://ukranews.com.
The publication recalls that from 2017 to 2020, Zabolotna raised funds for the PR project "reconstruction of the house" in the village of Shershni, where composer Mykola Leontovych, the author of "Shchedryk", supposedly spent his childhood. According to legend, since the artist's father served in the local church and there were "church buildings" on this site, it was believed that Leontovych himself spent his early childhood years here. However, according to Leonid Didukh, the head of the Sutiskiv village council, the historical value of this place is questionable, and the story is artificially created. According to existing archival records, the wooden church premises burned down back in 1895, and the collective farm office was most likely a mud hut built after World War II with generous brick extensions.
In 2017, the idea of turning Shershni into a tourist pilgrimage site seemed particularly appealing, as it marked the 140th anniversary of Leontovych's birth and the 100th anniversary of the composition of "Shchedryk". The local authorities' project for the renovation of the "Leontovych House" was "intercepted" by the NGO Foundation for Humanitarian Development of Ukraine, founded and led by former director of the Art Arsenal Natalia Zabolotna.
The house in Shershni was declared "national heritage". Here, performances by the "Shchedryk" choir and charity events featuring artists like violinist Ilya Bondarenko were organized. In 2018, to draw attention to the object, a festival called "Shershni of Leontovych" was held, which was supposed to become an annual event but lasted only two years.
The "restoration" of the building was promised to be financed by the fund of then-MP and head of the Boxing Federation Volodymyr Prodyvus. At the same time, the fund announced the start of reconstruction work on the estate, as a competition had been held in which the architectural bureau of Oleksiy Semyroha-Orlyk won.
The project aimed to preserve the house in its most authentic form by using lightweight materials and glass that could protect the building from environmental influences. Next to the house, it was proposed to build an open-air summer music theater called Open Air Leontovych Heart for 350 spectators and a studio school with music and art classes, as mentioned in one of Zabolotna's blogs on the occasion of this event.
By the end of 2017, 250 thousand UAH had been raised from donors. In July 2018, the amount reached 350 thousand UAH, according to Zabolotna. Also, in 2018, violinist Ilya Bondarenko donated 150 thousand UAH, as reported by local media. According to Zabolotna, 100 thousand UAH was transferred to Semyroha-Orlyk for his work. Additionally, another 150 thousand UAH for the "Leontovych House" was raised during a concert at the beginning of 2020: performing at the Cultural Center Freedom Hall were Natalia Mohylevska, Tayanna, Tonya Matviyenko, Jerry Heil, Viktoria Vasalati, and Anna Butkevych.
However, there is now no trace of the project. "Currently, we are just waiting for the building to completely collapse so we can demolish it and not spoil the landscape," comments Didukh on the situation. "They came, promised to renovate everything, bring tourists. But the elections passed – and everything was forgotten." Regarding the use of funds, he adds: "Where did they go? Nobody did anything. We saw none of that money," he adds.
"Today, the building looks the same as it did before the project began – only with the missing funds. After 7 years of Zabolotna's initiative, nothing remains – no cultural center, no tourist route, no trace of the spent funds. The "Leontovych House" continues to deteriorate, and its demolition seems only a matter of time. It is quite possible that the project was merely a cover for collecting funds that were then not used for their intended purpose," the article states.