SUMY CHILDREN’S PARK “KAZKA” FROM THE MID-1980S OF THE 20TH CENTURY - TO THE EARLY 21ST CENTURY: GENESIS, PECULIARITIES OF WORK AND THE FUNCTIONING PROBLEMS

Abstract

The paper analyses the reasons for the genesis, creation history, structural arrangement, fields of work, and problems in the functioning of Sumy Children’s Park “Kazka” from the mid1980s of the 20th century - to the early 21st century. In the study course, it has been concluded that the “Kazka” children’s park appeared in Sumy due to the need to streamline the territory of the city center. The children’s park creation was initiated by the then head of the city A. Lushpa. The prototype for the park in Sumy was the children’s playground “Kazka” in Mykolaiv. In fact, the park creation began in a directive way with the financial burden-shifting for the work execution from budgetary funds to the city enterprises’ funds, which was not uncommon under the Soviet totalitarian regime. At the same time, the children’s park was created in a short time due to the well-coordinated work of many enterprises and organizations in the city, which were helped by thousands of Sumy residents on a voluntary basis. The created park “Kazka” was a unique architectural complex on a fairy-tale topic with diverse cultural and entertainment facilities and offered visitors leisure activities for every taste. The significant amount and variety of park cultural-mass work in the first years of its existence were explained by the help, made on a voluntary basis, from a large number of local institutions and organizations. Because of its uniqueness, the park “Kazka” has become widely known throughout the country. At the same time, the flourishing of the park “Kazka” activities fell in the first years of its existence, which is largely dependent on the specific methods of the institution work organization, being typical of the Soviet economic and political systems. Those systems ceased to function effectively with the fall of the Communist Party regime. At the turn of the 1980s and 1990s, problems began to arise in front of the park due to socio-economic changes in the country. The major of them was the problem of lack of funds. Under market conditions, reliable sources of the park work financing by the city authorities disappeared due to rising prices, a decrease in the population solvency, etc. “Kazka” park’s income from paid services did not allow to resolve the institution’s financial situation. Since the second half of the 1990s, the park began to rapidly decline. Some of the unique architectural objects of the park were lost. In general, city authorities in the 1990s - at the beginning of the 21st century little dealt with the problems of the children’s park “Kazka”, and its restoration in 2003 was caused by the desire to create an eye-catching picture of the city’s improvement in front of the government delegation. This restoration has never been completed.