Entrepreneur Restores Historic Barnaul Department Store, Finds Cat Paw Print Bricks

Entrepreneur Yevgeny Lishin from Barnaul has restored the historic department store of merchant Sukhov on Socialist Avenue. He spent about 150 million rubles (approximately $1.5 million at current rates) on repairs and restoration, and now everyone can see the results. The building is operational, and plans are underway to open interesting venues on its premises. Read about how the object was restored in the interview with NGS22.RU.

«No Electricity, No Heating»

The Sukhov house became Yevgeny Lishin«s first project involving the restoration of a historical building. The Barnaul resident himself, among other things, owns a company that provides construction machinery services for large organizations. However, the lack of specific restoration experience did not prevent the businessman from taking on such a large project.

«— I watched for several years as it stood decaying and no one was restoring it. I started learning its history and realized how important this building was for the city at the time of its construction, how large and unique it was. I saw that there was an opportunity to buy it at a privatization auction, and I did it,» he says.

The department store of the trading house «Sukhov and Sons» was built in 1880. In 1998, the building was seriously damaged by fire and was in an emergency state.

There were no difficulties in acquiring such real estate. Before that, the regional property fund had put it up for auction several times, but without success. The auction itself took place at the end of 2020, and work on the object began almost immediately.

«— The destruction was extensive, everything was littered, some Soviet-era additions, catacombs inside. No electricity, no heating, this all happened in winter. Essentially, it was a homeless shelter. So initially, such sad views opened up,» the businessman recalls.

In addition, the building was piled with trash that needed to be sorted and removed before the major repair could begin. According to the businessman, the premises had accumulated waste equivalent to over 200 KAMAZ trucks — the debris reached up to the second-floor window.

«— When we started opening up the walls, we could analyze what exactly would need to be restored. Plus, the building was covered with banners on two sides,» Yevgeny noted.

When results appeared, even just after removing the trash, clearing the debris, and seeing what the building was like, it caused great emotional inspiration. Moreover, ordinary Barnaul residents were actively interested in the construction.

«— People passed by and said: «Oh, how great that at least someone started restoring the building.» All this helped, problems with the pandemic, increased cost of lending, and so on were outweighed by the joy from the observed result,» the hero shared.

By the way, during the trash removal, workers did not find any valuable discoveries. However, according to the businessman, it was interesting to observe how the bricks were made.

«— We encountered several bricks with masters« stamps. And there were also several bricks where a kitten»s or cat«s paw had been imprinted. They are now placed in a prominent spot in the gastrobar,» the entrepreneur said.

In addition, several Demidov rails with an 1880 stamp were found in the house. In the yard, while laying utilities, they dug up a bust of a Young Pioneer girl from the mid-20th century.

«— There were also some horseshoes. But the greatest interest was that we saw the history of how this building was built,» Yevgeny added.

At the same time, all the brickwork in the house is historical. It has survived to this day from the time of the building«s construction. One of the tasks during restoration was to leave only historical bricks in visible places so that the building would look as it did when built, and to place modern bricks inside the masonry to strengthen the structure.

«— If you walk along the building, you can see hinges from shutters around the windows. They also survived from those times. Also historical elements — this includes the wrought iron grille and brick vaults inside. A lot of historical things remain there,» the hero explained.

For example, the griffins that can be noticed on the building are also pre-revolutionary heritage. There are no exact archival data on where they came from, but it is known for sure that they became part of the house not during the Soviet era. Perhaps they were previously located on the territory of the silver smelting plant.

The only modern things — these are the windows, interfloor ceilings, roofing, engineering utilities,» the businessman emphasized.

Price Increased by 100 Million

The restoration of the building itself began with the development of project documentation and approvals. At the same time, the structures first needed to be inspected.

«— We dismantled walls where they had been without a roof for a long time. They were damaged by the cold. The brick was destroyed. We dug lower and lower to inspect the condition of the foundation, where it needed restoration,» the hero explained.

During the restoration process, according to Yevgeny, they discovered many problems that were not initially visible.

«— In many walls, there were chimneys that greatly weakened the wall structure. And they were made in a strange way. Not just vertically upward, but with branches to the right and left. In addition, we had to solve the foundation problem due to waterlogging,» he noted.

Moreover, the building is a monument of architecture of regional significance, so the projects underwent legally established examinations and received permits for the work.

«— On several dozen pages, it was described what could not be done, for example, adding another floor or demolishing a wall,» the entrepreneur stated.

By the way, the initiative to erect a monument to merchant Vasily Sukhov also belongs to Yevgeny Lishin.

«— The idea was mine, and the city supported the initiative. When we discussed the improvement of these territories at a meeting, I said that I would like to be allocated a place to install a monument to Sukhov. After all, he not only built this building but also directed money for the development of the city. He spent large sums on charity, cared deeply for the city. For all this, he was elected head and made an honorary citizen. Such an example is worthy of imitation. Moreover, it is like a symbol of the building that I restored,» the hero explained.

Yevgeny was helped in restoring the emergency house by his close ones, so the project quickly grew into a family affair.

«— My close ones supported and helped me a lot. Many design solutions — this is the work of my wife Yulia. The children came to the construction site in the summer and helped clean the historical bricks so that they could later be used in the masonry,» he shared.

In the end, Yevgeny spent a little less than five years and over 150 million rubles (about $1.5 million at current rates) on the full restoration of the house, although initial planning talked about 50–60 million rubles (about $500,000–600,000 at current rates) — this was due to price increases and the grown volume of work necessary for restoring the building.

Now, part of the premises of the two-story complex is rented out for events: corporate training, seminars, weddings, birthdays.

«— In the design of these premises, we combined the spirit of the 19th century and modern solutions, which is why they are so in demand and liked by people,» the entrepreneur emphasized.

On the first floor, a gastrobar under a Novosibirsk franchise opened in January.

«— This is a very bright project that has no analogues in our city, I see the admiration expressed by visitors to the gastrobar on social networks after visiting it,» the hero said.

According to Yevgeny, during the purchase process, he did not think about what would be inside — all decisions came later.

«— I wanted it to be beautiful and cozy here. To show people the beauty of this building, and also to create some project in demand by citizens. In the process of such reflection, the idea was born to open an establishment that would fit well into the logic of this historical building,» the hero noted.

However, as Yevgeny emphasizes, the Sukhov house is still very, very far from breaking even. There are still several free spaces left in the building — the entrepreneur is also thinking of occupying them with food service outlets.

«— The house is located in the historical center. Many Barnaul residents and city guests walk there. People need options for where to have lunch and spend time,» the businessman added.

However, despite all the difficulties, the entrepreneur considers his decision to restore the historical building correct. The businessman emphasizes that with his example, he inspired other city residents to take on similar objects.

«— I know that several entrepreneurs in the city have already taken up such a task. I think everyone would like historical houses in the city to be put in order. The other thing is that now loans are expensive and the cost of money is high. Maybe many have such a desire but no opportunity. Although I think that gradually this trend will grow,» Yevgeny concluded.