It's hard to believe, but practically in the center of Minsk, just a stone's throw from the Yakuba Kolas metro station, there is an abandoned building. A two-story silicate brick building appeared on Gikalo Street, 22A, as early as 1960. Local residents could not be happier with such a neighbor — a kindergarten was placed in the 700‑meter‑long building. The preschool institution existed until the 1980s. Then the building's fate took a sharp turn: it was converted into a dormitory for the Udarnik factory.

In recent years the building has stood empty. Boarded‑up windows and doors only deepened the gloomy impression. However, an attempt was made to improve the situation: a few years ago the building's owner, JSC Amkodor, planned to erect a 63‑apartment apartment block on the old site. The project was put up for public discussion, but, as we can see, it was never implemented.

Today the building (registered as a residential house in the documents) is being offered for sale at auction. The announcement is posted on the gostorg.by website. Bidding will start at 1,197,000 rubles (almost $400,000 at the current exchange rate).

By the way, the former dormitory building had at least two previous attempts to find new owners, with starting prices of 1,710,000 and 1,300,000 rubles respectively.