Yesterday, Governor Yakovlev arranged another inspection of another pre-anniversary improvement project. This time it was Sennaya Square, which for the past 18 years has been the dirtiest place in historical St. Petersburg. The inspection of Sennaya Square took place in much the same way as all of Governor Yakovlev’s recent visits to construction sites. Such events follow one scenario: the mayor is brought to the fence and introduced to the drawings of the future facility hanging on it. The governor listens with interest and asks a lot of questions, which makes one assume that he is seeing all these schemes for the first time. Then the governor himself takes the floor and explains to the builders how important it is not to delay work on the eve of the 300th anniversary. Next - the actual inspection, accompanied by a retinue.
JSC PA 'Vozrozhdenie', which two weeks ago began the reconstruction of Sennaya Square, has thoroughly prepared for the governor's visit. The day before, the construction site was fenced off with a neat fence, after which dump trucks rumbled around the square all night, hauling away garbage in the pouring rain. And in the morning, several workers used shovels to scoop out all the water and cigarette butts that had accumulated between the rails on the tram tracks.
The preparations were not in vain: Mr. Yakovlev was pleased with the excursion that was given to him by the chairman of the board of directors of Vozrozhdenie, Igor Bugato. True, once the governor did get angry - when he did not hear the hint from the head of the Admiralteysky district, Yunis Lukmanov, and went around the fresh gravel not to the right, but to the left. As a result, the mayor landed on the roadway, along which at that moment a large number of cars were trying to get out of Moskovsky Prospekt. (By putting up their barriers, the builders narrowed the passage by almost half, which created a traffic jam.) Having got out onto the sidewalk, the governor called the head of the Traffic Organization Center, Alexander Ionkov, to him and ordered measures to be taken.
Let us recall that Sennaya Square ceased to be a square in 1984, when active construction of the future Pravoberezhnaya metro line began on it. The Committee for Improvement and Road Maintenance of Smolny has repeatedly called on Metrostroy to find an alternative mine for removing soil, but an appropriate solution was found only a year ago. Now Sennaya Square should be completely transformed and become the most commercial in the city: almost every building facing it will house a business center. The corresponding plans for the resettlement of buildings have already been drawn up. By the end of this year, the area will be paved with artificial and granite tiles, lanterns and decorative lamps will be installed, and 58 trees will be planted. The customer for these works is the Committee for Improvement and Road Facilities of Smolny, which allocates about 95 million rubles for these purposes.
ALEXEY SOBOLEV

Newspaper "Kommersant St. Petersburg" No. 131 dated July 27, 2002, p. 4

Sennaya will become a square again