I was approached by residents of several apartment blocks on Metallurgov Street in Moscow for help in saving their neighborhood sports ground. In their letter they said that the local authorities were planning to build a health and fitness centre on the site.

The existing sports ground is quite well equipped, however, and has a history that goes all the way back to 1967. It contains a standard ice hockey pitch with proper edges, a high protection net, a water supply and flood system to create an ice rink, and floodlights. The site is used by the Perovo adolescent football and ice hockey teams for training and competitions, by the local neighborhood children’s ice hockey and football teams, and for special events for children from nearby schools. Young kids also learn how to skate there.

The residents’ action group emphasized in their letter that they are not against the construction of the health and fitness centre in their district, but simply think it would be wrong to replace a sports ground that’s so popular with the locals.

After studying the situation, I sent a deputy’s request to the Mayor of Moscow, Yu.M.Luzhkov, asking him to take the appropriate measures to save the local sports ground. I soon received a reply from the Moscow Government from N.N.Yeftikheev, Prefect of the Eastern Administrative District. The Prefect wrote that the neighborhood sports ground that the residents are so concerned about will be not demolished during construction of new health centre.