Memory does not allow to accelerate

In St. Petersburg, a school is being prepared for demolition, where Olga Bergholz, a poet, playwright, honorary citizen of the city, “Muse of the Leningrad blockade” studied.

It was the words of Bergholz “no one is forgotten and nothing is forgotten” carved on the memorial wall of the Piskarevsky cemetery, where half a million victims of the blockade lie. But now it was decided to put part of the memory of Olga Fedorovna under the bulldozer - in order not to slow down the movement of vehicles. And as a “compensation” it is proposed to name the bridge under construction by her name ...

In the coming years, another bridge will be transferred through the Neva - the conditional name "Big Smolensky". There is no doubt that he is needed. There are doubts about how to organize the entrance to this bridge from the Obukhov defense that goes along the Neva.

The simplest option is to enter the bridge from the extreme right row of movement along the avenue, along the "arrow" of the traffic light. It will slow down a little movement-but not critical: firstly, there is another second row, and secondly, the Avenue of Obukhov’s defense is not a high-speed highway at all.

But even to a small extent, the designers do not want to sacrifice the interests of motorists - and they planned the organization of an additional lane from which they will call on the bridge.

That's just in order to “break through” this strip, it is necessary to sacrifice the family with historical buildings. Ordinary, ordinary, but historical ones - which are prohibited by urban law.

“Think about the problem! - said St. Petersburg officials, always carefully listening to the voice of the builders. “So, we will change the law in such a way as to allow the demolition of these buildings.”

It is not difficult to do this - given that the vast majority in the city parliament in obedient resin factions (United Russia, LDPR and "new people").

But here's the bad luck: one of the buildings intended for the demolition - house 54 on Obukhov defense Avenue is a former seven -year commercial school, and then a labor school. Olga Bergholz studied in it for several years, who repeatedly returned to her school in memories.

A memorial plaque is placed on the school building in memory of Olga Bergholz. And in the same house in 1941, a division of the People’s militia of the Volodarsky district was formed, which took part in the defense of Leningrad.

"Sorry, but there is no other option!" -Officials and some colleagues-deputies began in unison. It’s a pity, of course, a school - but nothing can be done, the bridge is very necessary. And the school building is not an architectural masterpiece, what to regret it?

This, of course, is cunning: the preservation of the school does not interfere with the construction of the bridge, it is only about how the movement along the Obukhov Defense Avenue will be organized.

The choice is simple: cars will go a little faster - but at the cost of demolition of the school. Or a little slower - but the school will be preserved ...

The choice was confidently made in favor of the first option. The law allowing the demolition of these seven buildings, including the school, was adopted for the construction of the bridge. And the amendment to the law that I introduced, offering to prohibit this demolition, was rejected.

Even the collective appeal of the blockade who demands to preserve this school did not help: it was posted on the Internet a day before voting in the Legislative Assembly. Nikolai Nikolaevich Motovilov, Irina Mikhailovna ten and Vera Viktorovna Somina participated in the record of the appeal.

Vera Viktorovna, visiting a visit to Olga Bergholz at the age of 5, at the 5-year (!) Age: her mother was friends with the poetess, and she devoted a lot of time to little faith, took it for walks and raised it. And in subsequent years, Vera Somina, already becoming an artist, talked a lot with Olga Fedorovna ...

Well, as “compensation”, as already mentioned, the Fair Russia faction proposed to name the future bridge not by the Big Smolensk, but by the bridge of Olga Bergholts. To keep the memory of it in this way.

I replied that this was the same as offering to demolish the Hermitage - and to "preserve memory" about it to rename the palace bridge into the Hermitage.

Silence was the answer.