Gomel City Executive Committee

Building,
Gomel, Kommunarov str., 5

House № 5 is brick, rectangular in plan, with a small ledge on the side of the courtyard facade. The main facade is divided into two tiers by a narrow cornice. The dynamics of the first tier (1st floor) is given by a rectangular roost and a row of windows with sandricks in the form of a fan lock. The rhythm of the second tier (2-3 floors) is formed by blades with profiled cornices, grouping windows in pairs. Balconies with wrought iron railings are symmetrically located on the 3rd floor. The cornice refers to the Doric order with its mutules, triglyphs, metopes and gutas. In general, the modern look of the building correlates with the style of «Stalinist» classicism.

Kommunarov Street was formed at the beginning of the XIX century. In the second half of the XIX century . it was called the Butcher Shop, since there was a meat trade here. On May 6, 1919, it was renamed Kommunarov Street, since it was on it that the Gomel communards took their last fight during the Strekopytovsky mutiny.

The archives show that the building was erected in 1903. It was 2-storey, decorated in the so-called «brick» style. The windows of the first floor combined blades with diamond-shaped panels in pairs. The semicircular windows of the second floor were framed by arched architraves with pilasters. The facade had a developed cornice in several rows of dentils with an arcature above them. It was completed by a figured attic above the main entrance.

In the 1920s, the building housed a communal bank. It may have been used for the needs of a credit institution in pre-revolutionary times. However, it could also function as an apartment building. In this case, the institution itself was located only on the ground floor. After the Great Patriotic War , the building was restored in 1954 . Most likely, during this period, the third floor was built on, the facade line was continued and the architectural decor was significantly reduced, which was due to the beginning of the struggle against «excesses» in the 1950s.

In 1954, the building belonged to the Gomel regional office of the construction Bank. Perhaps this house was partially used as a residential building for bank employees. Now the first floor is used as an administrative room, residential apartments are located on the second and third.

Myasnitskaya street (Kommunarov). The building of the municipal bank. Photography of the 1920s.

Kommunarov str., house № 5. Photo 2017.

Kommunarov str., house № 5 (right). Photo 2023.