Description of the attraction
The prehistory of the construction of the Fire Tower building in Syktyvkar dates back to September 1899, when the City Duma approved the proposal of the mayor to build a new stone building on the site of the old wooden building of the fire convoy with rooms for attendants and stables and an observation tower equipped with a fire bell. The project was developed by the Vologda architect I. I. Pavlov. Its implementation began in 1900. The contract for construction work was signed with the famous contractor in the Komi Republic N. G. Kononov, who invited masons from the city of Solvychegodsk. Construction activity dragged on for several years and was carried out only in the summer season.
In 1907, the city authorities signed an agreement on leasing the second floor to the county treasury. By the autumn of the same year, the building was finally completed, and on October 19, a prayer service was held on the occasion of the location of a fire-fighting convoy in it.
The compositional basis of the two-story watchtower was the middle part, which was isolated from the plane of the side wings by a barely outlined protrusion in the shape of a rectangle. This ledge outgrew the slender octagon of the building with a pseudo-basement. The stone watchtower ended with a wooden bell tier (observation tower) with a gently sloping 8-sided roof. The central facade of the building, facing Spasskaya Street, was cut through by 5 wide arched gates of the stables on the 1st floor and 8 rectangular windows on the 2nd floor, around which the decorative decoration of the tower was concentrated ("crackers", notches with crenellated ceilings, and others).
After the reconstruction of the tower made in 1975 according to the plan of the architect A. D. Rakin, the building has changed in some way. Rakin not only managed to carefully preserve the architectural merits of the structure, but also, thanks to the highlighting, emphasized the decorative decoration of the tower, and also creatively reworked (in relation to the current conditions of use) its elements. The first floor, where the stables were located, and then the garage for cars was converted into service premises, the former gate was converted into arched window openings.
The end of the ringing tier received a new, more expressive look. Instead of an 8-pitched roof with a small slope of the roof, a high tent with policemen was created, completed with a weather vane in the form of a metal rooster, which was arranged on the coat of arms of the city of Ust-Sysolsk (the plan of the architect Kurov was embodied by the artist Kononenko and the mechanic Kataev). In the spring of 1976, a weather vane was installed at the very top of the tent.
The chimes on the façade were of particular importance during the reconstruction of the Fire Station building. In the past, on the streets of large cities, one could often hear the chimes ringing. The watch required careful maintenance, like any other complex mechanism. For this purpose it was necessary to hire entire services, but there were not enough funds for their maintenance. Services were shortened - the clock stopped. In 1986, after restoration work, the clock was repaired and the chimes began to play. But this did not last long. Six months later, they got wet.
The following repairs were carried out by specialists of the fire laboratory under the leadership of the chief engineer V. Lisin, however, in fact, a new watch was made. It was decided to leave the melody that came from the clock. It was a song by the Komi composer Yakov Perepelitsa about the city of Syktyvkar.
The building of the Fire Tower in Syktyvkar is not only an architectural monument, but also an unofficial symbol of the city.
