Manezh Hall Fire-Incident - Case Study Example

The Manezh Hall Fire Customer Inserts His/Her Name Customer Inserts Grade Course Customer Inserts Tutor’s Name Insert Date Here (Day, Month, Year) Manezh Hall Fire-Incident Soon after the polling closed in March 2004, and the day Vladimir Putin won elections for the second time, an incident occurred that shook the administration and was a blow for the conservationists who have been since long fighting battle against the city developers. A huge nineteenth century hall, Manezh, constructed in a classical style was gushed down by the huge fire on March 14, 2004. The building stood just opposite to the Alexandra Gardens. The hall was erected during the reign of Alexander I after the Napoleonic war came to an end. The building was declared officially opened in 1817 but the exterior portion was only completed in 1825. The building was initially being used for the military purposes but subsequently was also being used for civilian matters. (Brooke 2006: 54) At the time fire broke out, no one was inside the building not even artworks as the hall was getting ready for the next exhibition scheduled to be held next week. Fire broke out at 2100 local time just few minutes after Vladimir declared victorious. Soon hundreds of firemen rushed to the spot but as the fire raged high, the roof of the structure caved in killing two firefighters and injuring one. Flames and smoke from the building was rising above the Kremlin walls displaying spectacular view at the skyline. (BBC News 2004: Online) There were around 60 fire trucks trying to control fire as the flames reached 30 meters above the structure causing danger to the historical Kremlin building. Within three hours, 5,000 square meters of the 7,500-square-meter building was completed gutted down. (O’Flynn (A) 2004: Online) Possible Reasons and Causes Soon after, there were several versions on the cause of the fire, as some citing it to be arson but it had to be ruled out as it was very difficult to prove this theory as no evidence was cited for the same. According to the experts, fire started in Manezh and spread all over the building very quickly destroying everything. It was also said that as attic and roof of the building were made of wood, they could become a very important source of huge flames of fire gushing down almost whole building, but if we look carefully at the architecture of the building, we would find that it was not easy to set them on fire because the floor of the attic was constructed with the help of 40mm thick wooden planks and besides, the attic had already been protected by the fire resistant materials just three years back. (The Russia Journal 2004: Online) Investigators also thought cigarette, short circuit and fireworks to be the reasons behind the cause of the fire but this also got ruled out because it was found that there was no electric equipment on the upper floor except small lamps and if the firework had caused the fire, it was also ruled out as all the windows of the building were glassed and closed tightly. After the thorough search of whole area, investigators also did not find any dust, tobacco or peat or any other insulating material, which could cause fire. The attic was very clean when the fire broke out though one of the employees working since a very long time said the thick layers of tobacco was used to cover the floor of the attic used for heating and antiseptic materials but it was used during Second World War for cigarettes. (The Russia Journal 2004: Online) Overall whole blame for the fire fell on the lapses shown by the administration and the city government. Since last many years, conservationists were criticizing Mayor and the apathetic attitude city government was showing towards the architectural heritage buildings and sites. According to the estimation of the preservation experts, more than 400 considered to be heritage buildings had been razed by the administration since 1990, in which was included 60 buildings placed under the pamyatniki and have been specially cited by law to be given special protection. Among these buildings was also the Moskva hotel, famous all over the world on its getting space on the Stolichnaya vodka bottles next to the Kremlin. (Levitov 2004: Online) Enormous profits in the construction and real estate work lured the City Hall bureaucrats to bring these sites from the vantage of its historicity towards its destruction in a bid to give them modern look. In fact the plans were also on the anvil to change the historic wooden roof beams and adding underground car parking and a restaurant much before the building was gutted by fire. In place of these buildings, plan for the construction of skyscrapers was on the anvil. Consequences of the accident The fire sparked criticism from all the quarters and also stimulated many conservationists to set certain course of action to prevent further accidents and mishappenings. Some foreigners residing in Moscow formed their conservation organization to show their love and devotion towards the heritage sites and began their initiatives to protect the sites. The Moscow Architectural Preservation Society (MAPS) is also trying hard to bring in the foreign experts to force the city authorities to take necessary actions. After destruction, City’s Urban Development Council decided to make plans for the restoration of the Central Manezh Exhibition Hall which itself landed the council in a controversy. Critics stated that the preservationists and the officials belonging to the Culture and the Press Ministry said that the plans would cause the ultimate ruin of the masterpiece. Besides putting the roof back on the top of the building, the redevelopment plan would see adding of more two underground levels and a restaurant at an estimated cost of $100 million. For the preservationists, the plan developed by the council was a proof in itself of how city defied its own laws and became itself a part of the destruction of the historical building only for the sake of financial gains. (O’Flynn (B) 2004: Online) In the plan was discussed that one of the underground floors could be used for the technical equipment and the other for parking. With the reconstruction, they had the hope that the Manezh would increase in size from 9,500 square meters to about 23, 480 sq meters according to the plans. One of the most important point of discussion among the city council members were the wooden beams which had held the Manezh roof. These were considered as the engineering work of the high caliber built by Agustin de Betancourt in the year 1817. There were in all forty-five beams of 45 to 47 meters in length giving support to the roof. As this hall was being used by the Imperial Riding School, the sweat and breath of the thousands troops began to affect the beams. Irina Preobrazhenskaya, a specialist of wooden structures, hoped that the city council would advocate wood to be used for the beams. (O’Flynn (B) 2004: Online) In all the discussions, it was seemed that after the fire there was no longer talk on the reconstruction and restoration process but was the issue of rebuilding as most of the elements had to made new and began to be looked among the authorities as the main spot for investment. There were also concerned that the building would be converted into mall with underground parking but Federal Council voted against any additions. It was also speculated that the restoration would lower the status of the building. From this hotly debated discussions and debates city administration began with its restoration work, with the investment of reaching $36 million. It was considered as the fastest restoration work in history as soon after the thirteen months fire gutted down the famous building, it was reopened again. The expenses involved in its restoration work went out to be more than previously expected but there was still doubt that whether this restoration work could really be called restoration? Implication of disaster on Preston Preston is a non-metropolitan city of Lancashire located in the North West England around the north bank river of the Ribble. It has a population of 131, 900 and lies around the wider Preston sub area with a population of 184, 836 and Central Lancashire sub-regions with a population 335, 0000. At Preston, in the second half of the nineteenth century, markets were remodeled and many historical buildings were created which planners were now battling for extension of the conservation areas. Some of the buildings were demolished to make place for new buildings; there was development of the new places and widening of roads. Market halls were quite common in large industrial houses and Preston being one of them, created open sided covered market with ease. Further the old Victorian town hall was demolished to reconstruct again Miller Arcade. (lep.co.uk. (A) 2008: Online) The Old Town Hall at Preston replaced by the Crystal House in 1962 became a cause of eye sore for the urban landscape. The planners went to extend with their plans to preserve the best buildings and put on to more eyesores taking its deepest root behind the landmark buildings. The new plan of the Preston government was intend to be the same extending towards the city center conservation zone that has already Harris Museum, Town Hall, Sessions House and Cenotaph. Old buildings were demolished to make the place for new buildings with new open spaces and widened roads. (lep.co.uk. (B) 2008: Online) Now the English Heritage is also carrying its extensive research process regarding “fire performance of the historic timber doors and unobtrusive methods if any being used for upgrading them.” (Taylor Online: 2) The research have found that doors of 34 mm minimum frame and 6 mm panel can resist fire within a range of between 15 and 30 minutes depending upon treatment given to them. (Taylor Online: 2) The conference has pointed the fact that there are more scientific options available to conserve the buildings, which are less destructive. Their suggestions are conducive to the part B of the Building Regulations 1991 and could be applied wherever applicable. (Taylor Online: 2) The research process has also led to the understanding of the behavior of the fire by observing and measuring the parameters of room dimensions, building plans and contents. With the proper construction, preventive measures being adopted and location of the detection apparatus fire engineers would be able to make better predictions with accurate timings; the time when the first smoke is detected and can see the point where the fire would become much severe and the evacuation time. Such findings would create much suitable time for preventive measures and adopt standardized solutions. Looking at the various measures being adopted at the government level for conservation and preservation of the fire, it would be considered that if the fire would break out in Preston it would have more damaging effect as compared to the Manezh hall and implications would be more severe. In Preston many of the landmarks have been destroyed in the name of the development but still what have been preserved are still not being taken care of with letter and spirit. It is found that very minimum priority is being given to the conservation work and very low level of respect is being seen for the historic environment. Though according to the building regulations and architectural design, they are less destructive and have less chances to catch fire as in most of the artifacts, stones are used still if proper maintenance and care is not taken and destructive process continues making way for modernization then it is very likelihood that buildings could be more destructive. Conclusion As the modernization and urbanization process is taking its roots in the whole world, Manezh and Preston are also not aloof of the same. The modernization process is luring the governments to adopt the styles and designs that could look beautiful, bring in more earnings but have far more chances of catching fire irrespective of making use of the fire resistant mechanism. The need of the hour is to maintain the existent structures with the scientific ways so as the integrity of the heritage sites are also maintained and they are protected also from any accident or fire. Reference List BBC News. 2004. In pictures: Fire at historic Russian hall. [Online] Available: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/3512558.stm [17 February 2009] Brooke, C. 2006. Moscow: A Cultural History. New York: Oxford University Press. lep.co.uk. (A) 2008. Conservation area worth preserving. [Online] Available: http://www.lep.co.uk/news/Conservation-area-worth-preserving.4468946.jp [17 February 2009] lep.co.uk. (B) 2008. Which buildings in Preston should be protected? [Online] Available: http://www.lep.co.uk/news/Which-buildings-in-Preston-should.4468881.jp [17 February 2009] lep.co.uk. 2008. 'Damaging' buildings in Preston. [Online] Available: http://www.lep.co.uk/news/39Damaging39-buildings-in-Preston.4468936.jp [17 February 2009] Levitov, M. 2004. Preservationists Take Fight to the Wider World – The Moscow Times. [Online] Available: http://www.maps-moscow.com/index.php?chapter_id=149&data_id=30&do=view_single O’Flynn, K. (A). 2004. Fire Destroys Historic Manezh Hall. [Online] Available: http://www.rusnet.nl/news/2004/03/15/report01.shtml [17 February 2009] O’Flynn, K. (B). 2004. A New Manezh Sparks Old Debates. [Online] Available: http://www.rusnet.nl/news/2004/03/18/report01.shtml [17 February 2009] Preston, JK. 2000. Government Review of Policies Relating to the Historic Environment: Response to Questions. [Online] Available: http://www.britarch.ac.uk/info/ehreview22.html [17 February 2009] Taylor, A. GOING TO BLAZES: FIRE PREVENTION IN IIISTORIC BUILDINGS. Online] Available: http://www.ihbc.org.uk/context_archive/47/alantaylor.htm [17 February 2009] The Russia Journal. 2004. Moscow hall fire: arson possible. [Online] Available: http://www.russiajournal.com/node/17454 [17 February 2009] Read More