Designer: design institute "Karagandagorselproekt"; director N. Blishchenko
Architects: A. Boykov, S. Mordvintsev, A. Gostev
Head: A. Boykov
Chief Engineer: N. Kuzmin
GKP: N. Lorengel
Construction: trust "Karagandazhilstroy"
In the mid-1960s, Karaganda received the status of "the largest city" - the number of its inhabitants reached 500 thousand - and according to town-planning norms, such a settlement was assigned a cinema and concert hall, a sports arena and a circus. In the same years, the Karaganda Institute "Oblproekt" began to design a new area on the site of a vacant lot behind the cinema "Rodina": it was planned to build a circus, a summer skating rink building and a hotel there. The last two objects were commissioned, but the construction of the circus began only in 1976. The circus was supposed to create a single urban planning ensemble with the Oktyabrsky Sports Palace for 5,000 seats and a hotel, thereby visually completing the square and formalizing the exit to the Central Park.
The circus for 2,000 seats was intended to become one of the largest cultural facilities in Karaganda: A typical project of the Moscow TsNIIEP of spectacular buildings and sports facilities was taken as a basis - an octahedral structure with reinforced concrete floors - a circus for the Far East and Siberia, approximately the same as implemented in Kemerovo.
A special approach to the Karaganda circus was due to the detailed planning project, the location of the future building, so the standard project was redone. Initially, it was proposed to raise the site where the circus was supposed to stand, but due to the high estimated cost, this idea was abandoned. We decided to go the other way: to make the building taller by completing it with a dome with a large gas-lit advertisement, which was not the case in any other city. The diameter of the arena is 13 m, and the height of the dome is 18 m.
At that time, the possibilities for the implementation of architectural projects were modest, there were limitations in building materials. The construction of the circus became a "people's building", for the sake of the project the leading enterprises of the Karaganda region and the best creative forces were involved. The construction lasted six years. At the very beginning of construction, the deadlines were tight, and the construction of the building took place literally "from the sheet". During this period, the project was not even approved yet, and the construction of the foundations had already begun. However, there were also moments when funding was stopped and construction was stopped. But, despite all the difficulties, on December 8, 1982, the building of the Karaganda circus was put into operation, and its official opening took place on December 10. The project was awarded a number of diplomas and a silver medal from VDNKh.
[In the 2000s, the circus building was rebuilt - approx. Archi.ru].