The “permanent free use” of the former fortress Great Synagogue in Lutsk, western Ukraine, has been transferred to the local Chabad community in the town.
Dating from 1626-1628, the building, with its distinctive tower, has housed the Dynamo sports school and sports club since 1981.
Moshe Meir Matusovski, the Chair of Chabad in Lutsk (and others), said on Facebook that the head of Volyn region administration, Yuriy Pohulyaiko, signed an order for the transfer of the building on April 12.
The Volyn region posted an article on its web site detailing the transfer. (The article was original published on the suspilne.media portal.)
“We are instructed to make a transfer agreement, to prescribe what the community can do here,” Pavlo Rudetsky, director of the Lutsk Historical and Cultural Reserve, was quoted as saying. “The law stipulates that the monument must be maintained and restored, and the user cannot rent it out.”
The article described the building, recognized as an architectural monument of national importance, to be in a very poor state, requiring extensive repair and renovation, which will require major funding.
It quoted Hanna Matusowska, a representative of Chabad, as saying that Chabad was considering creating a synagogue-museum in this building.
See the article on the Region’s web site