In the Valozhyn district, all buildings of a 19th-century estate will be demolished — and another 14,000 will be spent on demolition
In the village of Chekhaushchyna, preparations are underway to demolish most of the gentry estate. At the same time, the manor house itself has been put up for electronic auction with very specific conditions for the future owner.
Manor house in Chekhaushchyna. Photo: et.butb.by
As reported by the Telegram channel "Spadchyna" (Heritage), local authorities have allocated budget funds for the demolition of eight buildings of the historical complex. According to official materials on the public procurement website, 14 thousand rubles from the district budget will be spent on this.
The decision was made by the Valozhyn District Executive Committee at the end of May. The list of buildings to be liquidated included all outbuildings of the former estate: a warehouse-icehouse, a vegetable warehouse, a food warehouse, a horse stable, a feed kitchen, a petrol storage, and two residential houses.
The formation of the gentry complex in Chekhaushchyna took place in the mid-19th century. The most valuable object among those subject to demolition is the icehouse.
Historical icehouse, built of rubble stone using the "raisin masonry" technique. Photo: Telegram channel "Spadchyna" (Heritage)
Old diamond-patterned planked icehouse doors and a lintel above them with the construction date — "Roku 1855". Photo: Telegram channel "Spadchyna" (Heritage)
According to the monographic studies of architecture historian Anatol Fedaruk, this is an authentic square-plan building measuring 8x8 meters, constructed from rubble stone using black gravel on a lime mortar — the so-called "raisin masonry" technique. Above the entrance to the icehouse, an original lintel with the carved construction date — "Roku 1855" — has been preserved.
Parallel to the preparations for the demolition of the outbuildings, the Valozhyn District Executive Committee put up for auction the wooden manor house itself, with a total area of 433.7 sq. m. Officially, the building is listed as an "outbuilding from 1957," so a potential investor would have no way of knowing that it is actually a gentry estate built in 1849. Such errors arose because, as a result of post-war Soviet inventory, old buildings were assigned the date of their first major repair or registration.
Local authorities do not impose requirements on potential buyers for mandatory preservation of the object. According to the terms of the auction, the new owner of the manor house can either renovate the building or completely demolish it and construct a new object in its place within five years.