Restoration Halted for Monument to Opera Singer Leonid Sobinov in Yaroslavl
In Yaroslavl, work on restoring the monument to opera singer Leonid Sobinov has been suspended. This was reported to 76.RU by the company «Yardormost».
«Work on the monument was suspended by joint decision with the client to develop a detailed technological process together with restoration experts. After agreeing on the monument repair technology, the work will be completed in full,» the contractor commented on 21 January.
The sculpture, which is located in the very center — on Maximova Street, next to the philharmonic hall, has been without anti-corrosion coating since September 2025.
Leonid Sobinov was born in Yaroslavl on 26 May (7 June) 1872. He became one of the largest representatives of the Russian classical vocal school. Honored Artist of the Imperial Theatres. People«s Artist of the RSFSR.
The monument to the opera singer was installed on Maximova Street near the Yaroslavl Philharmonic in January 2008. The author is sculptor Elena Paskhina.
In September 2025, after the start of work on creating a pedestrian center and improving Maximova Street, the protective layer was removed from the monument to the opera singer.
«In the process of cleaning the monument, which was provided for in the design and estimate documentation, our employees made a mistake,» was commented at «Yardormost» at the time.
In December of the same year, it became known that the monument was planned to be taken away to a site for restoration. The work is stalled because, according to legislation, at least three commercial proposals are needed to determine a contractor. By the way, among the contenders for carrying out the restoration was the author of the monument, Elena Paskhina.
The idea to make the center of Yaroslavl pedestrian was voiced by the head of the Yaroslavl Region, Mikhail Yevrayev, back in 2022. Initially, they wanted to free three streets from cars — Deputatskaya, Nakhimson, and Andropov. In autumn 2023, the thought of expanding this zone appeared.
They began implementing the project in 2025. The improvement started with Maximova Street; after several months, «Yardormost» also took up Deputatskaya Street. The approximate cost of all the improvements is 450 million rubles (approximately $4.5 million at current rates). In this material we showed sketches of the project.
