The music gazebo in the recreation park of the Officers’ House in Chita has reopened for its tenth anniversary season, welcoming residents to enjoy music and dance. The opening was celebrated with a performance by the Oleg Lundstrem military orchestra of the 29th Guards Combined Arms Army, with attendees waltzing to the music.

Sergey Zherebtsov, director of the Officers’ House of the Trans-Baikal Territory, highlighted the gazebo’s historical significance during the opening ceremony on May 29. He explained that the gazebo is a reconstruction of the original built in 1898, coinciding with the opening of an agricultural and industrial exhibition and the completion of railway construction.

The original gazebo hosted performances by the imperial military orchestra before the revolution. It was also the venue where Grigory Shatrov’s famous waltz “On the Hills of Manchuria” was first performed in Chita in 1908. The reconstruction project began in 2010, aiming to restore the park’s pre-revolutionary appearance. The first copy of the Zhukovsky Garden gazebo appeared in 2015, followed by the music gazebo’s opening with the brass military orchestra on Russia Day in 2016.

The restoration of the gazebo’s detailed appearance was a six-month endeavor by the Officers’ House staff, who meticulously recreated the diagrams, nodes, and dimensions from photo archives. The only deviation from the original design is the use of special solutions to protect the wooden elements, instead of whitewashing with lime.

For nine years, Tatiana and Alexander have been regular dancers at the gazebo. Tatiana, a trolleybus driver, and Alexander, a builder, are amateur dancers who enjoy the music and atmosphere. Tatiana, who has loved to dance since her school years, encourages everyone to attend the evenings at the gazebo.

Before the revolution, the Park of Culture and Recreation of the Officers’ House was named after the poet Vasily Zhukovsky. The original gazebo was located where the memorial stele to internationalist soldiers now stands and hosted performances by famous artists and musicians. Currently, the Oleg Lundstrem Military Orchestra performs every Thursday at 6:00 PM. Major Alexander Denisov is the head and artistic director of the orchestra. In addition, the “XX Century-Chita” group performs at the “In the Circle of Friends” dance and entertainment evening every Friday and Saturday at 7:00 PM at the park’s retro venue. Evgeny Nimaev, Honored Artist of the Trans-Baikal Territory, also performed at the anniversary opening.