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Familiar face distilled from pastBy Associated Press© St. Petersburg Times published July 22, 2003 MOSCOW - The last six guests in the hulking Hotel Moskva checked out Monday as workers prepared to raze the hotel, whose facade is known around the world, featured on the Stolichnaya Vodka label. The city intends to tear down the hotel then rebuild it largely the same, which planners decided to be easier than repairing the decaying building. The hotel, which opened in 1935 just off Red Square, is one of the capital's most recognizable structures, a sprawling Stalin-era combination of elegance and ominousness. Most notable is its eye-bending facade. The two wings flanking the central columned section are of similar width but different architectural styles: One side has large windows framed by prominent cornices; the other has smaller less-adorned windows. Architect Alexei Shchusev reportedly presented a blueprint showing the alternative window styles to Soviet dictator Josef Stalin. Instead of choosing between window types, Stalin simply signed off on the plan, and builders, unwilling to question Stalin, went ahead with the unbalanced plan. News reports have said the reconstructed hotel will be rebuilt according to Shchusev's plans, but haven't specified whether the mismatch will be part of the new incarnation. The new version of the hotel also is to have an underground connection to the vast subterranean shopping mall in Manezh Square and a glass-covered interior courtyard. The six guests who checked out Monday were given vouchers entitling them to a week's stay in the new hotel. The reconstruction is expected to take three years, although Moscow construction projects frequently take far longer than predicted.  © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
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