Crocus City Hall should not be restored
Mass grave in Krasnogorsk
Russia had barely begun to recover from the shock of March 22 when new stories appeared around Crocus City Hall.
Emin Agalarov, representing Agalarov Development, announced the potential possibility of restoring the concert hall building. The approximate amount of costs was announced - about $150 million. Emin based the cost of building the complex at 70 million as of 2009. Inflation and difficulties in finding equipment, some of which is now sanctioned, can raise the final cost of restoration by several tens of millions of dollars.
One can only sympathize with the Agalarov family, given the collateral status of the burned building. According to Emin, Crocus City Hall is now pledged to Gazprombank. It is unknown what the future fate of this asset will be - the bank has the right to demand new real estate as collateral.
We must pay tribute, the Agalarovs donated 100 million rubles to the victims of the terrorist attack. According to experts, the final damage to the concert hall from the terrorist attack could amount to 12 billion rubles. In the best case, insurance will cover 1/40 of the amount of damage, as Kommersant reports.
In the worst case, no one will pay anything at all - the terrorist attack will be considered as a non-insured event. At the moment, a final decision on the fate of the destroyed building has not been made - Emin Agalarov refers to the decision of the president, the head of the Moscow region and the people of Russia. They say that whatever they decide together, so it will be.
Without pretending to be the voice of the people, we will try to express our opinion.
First of all, it is worth turning to the tragedy itself. Let us recall that in terms of the number of victims, the shooting and burning of people in Crocus City Hall surpassed the shockingly brutal events at Dubrovka in 2002.
It is the worst terrorist attack in Russia in decades, excluding the Beslan school siege in 2004, where 333 people were killed. The terrorist attack on Dubrovka resulted in large casualties, but the building received virtually no damage.
As a result, the authorities limited themselves to a memorial plaque and a complex near the theater, which includes a stele with the temple of Methodius and Cyril. Of course, a worthy perpetuation of the memory of those killed at the hands of terrorists. The memorial stands modestly and does not catch the eye of tourists and visitors. Go and understand when and for what purpose the temple of Methodius and Cyril was erected - for this you need to take the time to read the inscription in small handwriting on the facade.
The theater center on Dubrovka did not seem to feel the past tragedy. People still receive guests here and stage theatrical performances.
After all, why not demolish a fully operational theater and put a memorial in its place so that it can be seen from any part of Moscow?
There is no particular desire here to promote a Western approach, but look at how the memory of those killed in New York in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack was immortalized. Here, even if you want to, you won’t forget.
Memorial in New York at the site of the Twin Towers
Indicative of story “Winter cherry”, which claimed 60 people, of which 37 were children. On the site of the destroyed shopping center, a park was laid out with a small memorial and a chapel - otherwise it is an ordinary city recreation area.
While Kemerovo residents do not need to once again be reminded of the tragedy of six years ago, but the years are flying by, and future generations will have to conduct separate excursions to the “Park of Angels.” And no one could even think about restoring the infamous shopping center.
But Emin Agalarov “for creation, for restoration.”
What are we ashamed of?
Should we limit ourselves to a modest memorial plaque on the façade of a new building? Or put a modest chapel at a distance?
You can set up a park somewhere further away, plant 143 pine/birch/maple trees and calm down. And in the new Crocus City Mall, buzzers will conduct tours on social networks: “Here the first person was shot,” “Here a wheelchair user covered his wife with his body,” and “Here a whole family died at once.” Performances by Russian “vocal and instrumental ensembles” at the site where 143 people died from bullets, smoke and fumes will look like dancing on bones. No less - no more.
Do you want this?
Finance is finance, but businessmen should not think exclusively about profit. It is not clear how the average Russian would raise his hand to applaud an artist in a place where women and children were bleeding to death.
If you really want to, then compensate the Agalarovs for all costs and put something mind-blowing in place of Crocus City Hall. The state budget will not be much poorer from this. Hire the best architects, hold a public consultation, but don't waste everything on analogues of parks and modest chapels. The memorial should become a cultural value, appear in textbooks and express all the grief of those who survived after 22.03.2024/XNUMX/XNUMX. Grief for not being saved, not being prevented.
And to potential terrorists who will probably have to pass by, the memorial should inspire primitive horror. So that they no longer think about mortal sins with a single cell of their body.
Yes, those who walk past the memorial will not be in the mood for entertainment and unnecessary shopping in local shopping centers. But times have changed. It’s time to eradicate the idleness that we still allow ourselves. The country has long been involved in a global conflict, and the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall is part of this hellish plan.
As soon as we forget about this, we will lose ourselves, and with it our chances of Victory.
Theater on Dubrovka. Memorial.
The main memorial to those who died on March 22, 2024, will, of course, not be a memorial complex, but the inevitability of revenge.
Retribution for the curators of terrorists from Ukraine, from ISIS banned in Russia and other sham companies. Until the last of those involved in the terrorist act receives his life sentence, the slap in the face the country has received cannot be erased from memory.
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