Vul. Kniahyni Olhy, 3a – specialised gym building

ID: 2181

A specialized gymnastics hall is a former riding hall. It functioned to tame horses for a military base of Austrian army. The military barracks were located on this site. The building had had its original function until the Second World War. In the first postwar years, it was used as a sports hall for servicemen of the Zalizna Division of the Soviet Army. Later, it was reformatted to a specialized gymnastics hall managed by the Army Sports Club. In 1976, it was expanded due to an addition to the solid façade of the two-storey building. In 2011, the building received another addition on the rear. It is still managed by the Army Sports Club.

History

The riding hall was built in 1895 as part of facilities of a military unit at ul. Wulecka (Лемко, 2009, 300). Until the Second World War, it had been managed by a unit of the Polish Army. After the war, all local military units were transferred into the Prykarpattia Military Command. The riding hall became a unit of the Army Sports Club. In the first place, it was used by gymnasts and acrobats. The first postwar Olympics athletes were exercising their skill here — Viktor Chukarin and Dmytro Leonkin (Кордіяк, 1980, 1–2,20). After the expansion, due to the addition built in 1976, the building acquired a new function. It became a specialized gymnastics hall for national teams of the USSR to train for the most important competitions (as informed by Petro Blazun). In particular, the national team of the USSR was preparing here for the 22^nd Olympics in Moscow 1980. Bohdan Makuts, a future Olympic champion was training in the team, too. In addition, other prominent athletes, winners of most prestigious international competitions, were exercising their skill here, such as Andriy Nakonechnyi, Stepan and Roman Martsynkiv, and Iryna Tsaryk.

Presently, the hall still functions as previously. Every year, gymnasts from different countries come here to compete for awards of reputable tournaments, such as Viktor Chukarin Cup, and Yevhen Oryshchyn Memorial. The gym is used by 320 gymnasts and 200 acrobats (as informed by Petro Blazun).

Architecture

The building of the specialized gymnastics hall is located in the middle of the modern age residential housing of the 1990s–2000s, between the streets of vul. Kniahyni Olhy and Kulykivska, where the main entrance is found. It consists of three parts. The original building is a north-southward elongated rectangular structure.

It is a one-storey building with a two-pitched roof, 65 m long, 25 m wide, and 7 m high. East and west lateral facades are decorated in plastered arcades. Each façade is divided into sections by 12 arches, with windows inside. The main northern façade has an adjoining two-storey building, rectangular in layout, covered partly with the flat roof and a two-pitched one. It has a hall for heavy athletics and power lifting. The rear façade in the south has an adjoining one-storey rectangular building built in 2011. It is used by a dentist clinic and a pharmacy store. Kulykivska street separates the gym from the sports facility of Lviv state physical culture school.

Personalities

Viktor Chukarin — a gymnast, winner of the 15^th Olympics in Helsinki 1952, and of the 16^th Olympics in Melbourne 1956. His legacy includes 11 Olympic medals.
Dmytro Leonkin — a gymnast, champion and a bronze medalist of the 15^th Olympics in Helsinki 1952.
Bohdan Makuts — a gymnast, champion of the 22^nd Olympics in Moscow 1980.

Sources

Кордіяк Юліан, Чемпіони живуть у Львові: Нариси, статті (Львів: Каменяр, 1980), 176.
Лемко Ілько, Михалик Володимир, Бегляров Георгій, 1243 вулиці Львова (Львів: Апріорі, 2009), 574.
Повідомлення Петра Блазуня, директора об'єкта.