Governor Alexey Ostrovskiy took part in the opening ceremony of the Solovinaya Roscha Park

The official opening of the Solovinaya Roscha recreation park took place in the regional center. The Governor took part in the event.

It should be reminded that in the framework of the reconstruction of the Solovinaya Roscha Park large-scale landscaping works were carried out there. Benches, bins, lanterns were set up, 16 thousand square meters of walkways were paved with stone blocks. All the benches in the park are made of wood-polymer composite, the material that has a long service life, is not subject to deformation by weather conditions and does not require special care.

In the central part of the park there is a stage and a fountain with illumination, made of solid pieces of Baltic granite. In addition, the park has a sports ground for basketball, beach volleyball, football and workout (street gymnastics), as well as a children's playground with bunkers, sandpit, slides, swings and other equipment for the games of children of different ages. For the safety of Smolensk residents there are 40 surveillance cameras installed in the Solovinaya Roscha Park.

It is important that one of the priorities specified by the Governor to the investor when creating the park was to preserve the green area. So, during the improvement of the park, more than 120 trees- chestnuts, limes, red maples - were planted here. In addition, the works to strengthen the coastline and to landscape the coastal zone were carried out, a bridge crossing the lake was built.

During the opening ceremony, Alexey Ostrovskiy, the Head of the region, together with Andrei Borisov, the Mayor, inspected the key infrastructure facilities of the park, in particular, the children's and sports grounds, talked to Smolensk residents about their suggestions for further landscaping, and also gave a number of instructions to the Mayor. In particular, the Governor instructed the Head of the city to deal with the "sandstorms" in the park.

The next task which the Head of the region set for the Head of the city was creating bicycle lanes. Alexey Ostrovskiy pointed out that Maxim Stepanov, the project investor, guaranteed that he would do everything according to the project; however, there are no bicycle lanes yet:

- It has turned out to be a good park, but there are no bicycle lanes here. Therefore, the Smolensk residents are fairly dissatisfied with cyclists speeding, frightening mothers with children, and creating inconveniences for pedestrians. Therefore, I ask you, Andrei Alexandrovich, together with Maxim Alexandrovich Stepanov, to find out why he has deviated from the project and find a solution to this problem.

Andrei Borisov assured the Governor that the park would definitely be further developed and completed:

- Here we need to add not only cycle lanes, but also another playground, because one such zone is not enough. In addition, the parents of children with disabilities spoke to me - we will also plan a playground for special children, - the Mayor said.

Then the Head of the region addressed the audience:

- I very much hope that what the two Administrations, the Administration of the region and the Administration of the city, have done to create this park for you, the residents of the city, will be appreciated. I really want this park for people of all ages to become a place of attraction, so that people come here and enjoy walks. In social networks and during the reception of citizens, I get different proposals, recommendations, comments, and we, of course, are discussing and considering all this with the leaders of the city Administration. But, in general, despite the fact that there were critical remarks and skepticism among the residents of this microdistrict and among the city residents, the park seems to me to have turned out to be a success. The fact that there are now so many people, even despite the weather conditions, is a confirmation of this. I congratulate all the Smolensk people on the official opening of this park. I thank Andrei Aleksandrovich Borisov, the Head of the city, for the Administration of the regional center solving all the problems of the administrative character promptly. The park, has been finally taken on the balance of the city, and put into operation. I very much hope that both Smolensk residents and the local authorities will do everything to ensure that this place does not deteriorate over time. I very much hope that people will not spoil what has been created with certain efforts.

Isidor, the Metropolitan of Smolensk and Dorogobuzh, also congratulated the audience on the opening of the new recreation park. He thanked the Governor and the Mayor for such a gift to Smolensk:

- May the Lord protect us all and this wonderful park bring joy to the residents of our city. Wish you all health and well-being! Enjoy the event!

During the opening ceremony of the Solovinaya Roscha Park, Smolensk citizens and guests of the city could enjoy the entertainment program prepared for them. In particular, on the main stage of the park, there were performances of artistic groups from Smolensk, and there was also a dancing master-class of the dance school “Lindy Roll”. Air gymnastics classes, beach volleyball tournament, city basketball championship were held on the sports ground. The event ended with a festive firework.