Rus'Kino

On September 24, 1975, the Stroitel newspaper published an article “New Buildings of the City”, which reported that in “Microdistrict #1”, the UNR-646 team began construction of the “Sirius Cinema”, featuring twin screens (which are designed for a capacity of 1,100 seats with 800 at Screen 1 and 300 at Screen 2), and would feature a large-format and variety of films (including both Russian and American films) will be shown.

A year later on September 1, 1976, the same newspaper announced that in the eastern region, the construction of the largest cinema in the city was underway, but already went under the name “Saturn”. At the time, it was originally scheduled to put into operation by the final quarter of 1977, but at the time, people’s inspectors checked the state of construction and noted that the six-month plan for construction and installation work was only 59.3% completed. According to the project, materials were used in the decoration of the building, which you will not find at every construction site. An unbelievable 11 tons of metal were needed only for the false ceiling. As well as 100 materials of copper and oak were delivered from Krasnodar. Before attaching it, the furniture factory craftsmen had to witness it, drill it, and give it to the local fire department for the appropriate processing. The construction also required limestone, granite, expanded clay and marble for cladding.

In mid-1978, general construction work was completed but the finishing touches of the building were delayed. The construction was headed by the honored builder of the RSFSR Sergey Goryachev, who had the finishing touches with the SCC in Suzdal. Under his leadership, teams of finishers processed several hundred square meters of marble and granite, and also completed mosaic work on an area of ​​more than a thousand square meters. In addition, 9,000 square-meters were laid around the theater.

The interior design project was done by Yuri Kachanov. Artists from Mstera made eight decorative panels in the technique of lacquer miniatures on the theme “History of the Vladimir Region”, which were placed on the walls in the foyer. A total of five paintings by Vladimir artists Valery Kokurin and Vladimir Yukin were used as well as artists Nikolai and Tatyana Slinkovs who did the wall panels (decorative sculptural works) and floor compositions, using motifs from Russian folk tales and epics in the design of the foyer.

After all the delays, the twin-screen “Cinema-Rus” opened its doors on December 17, 1978.

During the years of restructuring, the cinema literally turned into a leisure center, which featured intellectual games, KVNs, and New Year trees, were also added in cinema halls. It also turned into a concert revenue in portions of its history, as well as some film festivals and local award ceremonies were held there throughout time.

By the time the Soviet Union became dismantled, the cinema survived as best as it could. On free space, it housed a second-hand store, a book warehouse, and a nightclub named “Ultra”. In the latest descriptions of the theatre in the 2000’s, a person who visited the theatre multiple times told a bit of its theatre’s run. According to him, he remembers that “the Cinema-Rus shows mostly G-rated films in the first half of the day.” At the time, film distribution in the old Soviet format immediately ran out of steam.

A couple of more additions were added to the surrounding portions of the cinema and around the building, including on November 2, 2004, when a skating rink (named the “Penguin Skating Rink”) with artificial ice was opened near the cinema which could accommodate about 400 people at the same time. The rink has the technology to maintain the quality of the ice from October to April and is very popular with Vladimir residents.

Despite all the significant changes in work, the municipal unitary enterprise of the city of Vladimir’s “Cinema-Rus” was liquidated on June 22, 2006, and sold it to capital investors. They immediately set about reconstructing the cinema, which at the building of which at that time was almost 30-years-old, but they have no choice due to its appearance requiring restoration.

The “Cinema-Rus” has changed significantly big time. During reconstruction, it dropped its longtime name and officially became known as the cultural and entertainment center “Rus'Kino”, and reopened in 2007.

The facade of the reconstructed building was made of glass and concrete. The only surviving material of the cinema is the recognizable white facade wall on the right. Inside the auditoriums featured the large Screen #1 painted red and the small Screen #2, both screens had their seats divided. Screen 1 downgraded its capacity from 800 to 554 seats and Screen 2 from 300 to 180 seats, bringing a total to just 734 seats. Newly additions including a restaurant with Italian + Japanese cuisines and other catering establishments, as well as a children’s entertainment complex called “Little Country” featuring arcade machines on the 2nd floor. Not just the cinema and building itself, but surrounding it along with the Penguin Skating Rink also has a Penguin Amusement Park, featuring a cartoon-themed miniature train ride, a merry-go-round, a go-kart track, and rides.

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