Kyiv Television and Radio Center
| Kyiv Television and Radio Center | |
|---|---|
Interactive map of the Kyiv Television and Radio Center area | |
| General information | |
| Architectural style | Ретроспективізм |
| Location | Kyiv |
| Coordinates | 50°26′55″N 30°31′17″E / 50.448611°N 30.521389°E |
| Current tenants | Radio Ukraine |
| Groundbreaking | 1949 |
| Opened | 1951 |
| Owner | Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Viktor Yelizarov |
| First director, Konstantin Alekseev | |
The Kyiv Television and Radio Center, known more commonly since the dissolution of the USSR as the House of Ukrainian Radio (Ukrainian: Будинок Українського радіо, romanized: Budynok Ukrainskoho radio), was built on the site of Khreshchatyk 26, which had been largely destroyed by deliberately placed Soviet secret service bombs targeting Germans in the 1941 bombings of Khreshchatyk Street during World War II. Construction of the TV and Radio center which replaced the former complex at Khreshchatyk 26 began in 1949, at the insistence of Nikita Khrushchev, who at that time was the economic leader of Ukraine.
Joseph Stalin authorized 43 million rubles to complete the structure – but since all contact with American TV companies had ceased shortly after the beginning of the Cold War (including the company that had won the contract to construct the Moscow TV Center), a Russian immigrant and electronics engineer named Vladimir Zvorykin had to design everything in the building himself. The building was designed by the famous Soviet architect Viktor Yelizarov. Today, the Radio and TV building at Khreshchatyk 26 is no longer visible from the main thoroughfare of Khreshchatyk, and is only accessible through the archway of Khreshchatyk 24.