Fomin Botanical Garden at the Shevchenko National University of Kyiv is closed for repair.

Ukrainian News has learned this from the garden’s deputy director for scientific work Roman Palahech.

He explained that the park area of the botanical garden was closed because of a crack in the rock garden, located in the scientific part of the garden, and aroused danger of slip.

«There is a slip danger as the rock garden is big stone lumps which cracked,» said Palahech.

In his words, garden authorities tried to locally shut the way to that part of the garden, where the rocks are, but some visitors neglected the prohibition.

He said that now the ‘Specialized department of anti-slip underground works’ municipal enterprise is performing and expertise to find out what caused cracks in the rock garden and then repair the rocks.

Due to this Palahech could not tell how long the reconstruction will last and the garden will be shut.

«Possibly, a month or two, and maybe more,» he said and underlined that excursions in orchard houses will be held as usual.

Palahech also could not say how much can reconstruction of the rock garden cost.

Moreover, the Kyiv city state administration’s press service tells that during the shut time they will also repair the fence, lay new foot-paths, reinforce slopes and plant new kinds of trees and bushes.

The rock garden in an area in the botanical garden, park or public garden for growing mountain (Alpine) plants on artificial stone hills.

As Ukrainian News earlier reported, in June 2006 the Shevchenko National University of Kyiv asked the Kyiv city state administration to help improve the Fomin Botanical Garden.

The Fomin Botanical Garden is one of the oldest in Ukraine. It was founded in May 1839.

Today it is a research institution subordinate to Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. The garden is located near the main (red) building of the university in Kyiv downtown.

The Fomin Botanical Garden has a collection of 10,000 taxonomic groups of plants from different parts of the world.

Kyiv's botanical gardens are popular tourist sites.

The source: Ukrainian News Agency