Description of the attraction
The building of the school of arts, and earlier - the provincial public places, was built on the newly formed square, which is considered the outskirts of the then Saratov in 1807. Until recently, it was believed that the author of the project was the architect H. I. Losse, who used the "exemplary project" of the St. Petersburg architect A. D. Zakharov. but recent studies indicate that the building was built according to the project of the provincial architect V. I. Suranov.
Until 1903, the building was the working room of the governor and the provincial chancellery, as well as numerous presences and councils in charge of a particular field of activity. A huge house at that time with a large front porch facing the square, a staircase leading to the second floor, a columned portico and decorations in the style of classicism fully corresponded to its purpose.
In January 1848, the building was badly damaged by fire. At that time, there were thirty-degree frosts and the building "from the strengthened furnace firebox" caught fire. The arriving team could not quickly extinguish the fire due to the freezing of water in the fire pipes and despite the fact that the house was made of stone, the internal premises were almost completely burned out, and the outside of the building lost many elements of the beautifully designed facade. After five years of renovation, the porch of the main staircase and the columned portico were never restored.
After 1917, the building was occupied by various Soviet institutions. Since the 1960s, it has housed the choreographic and music schools, which in September 1998 were merged into a single whole, called the regional school of arts.
