In 2014, the Chelyabinsk elevator was ranked among the three ugliest buildings in Russia, and it still holds this dubious title today. It is hard to believe, but once this structure was the pride of the city. The need for its construction arose in the early 20th century when the Trans-Siberian Railway passed through Chelyabinsk, and a flow of cheap bread poured from Siberia to Europe. Grain needed to be stored somewhere, and the Russian government decided to build an elevator at the expense of the budget. An experienced architect, Konstantin Efimovich Zhukov, who specialized in industrial buildings, was invited for this purpose.

Construction began in 1913. Zhukov designed the elevator in the popular Art Nouveau style of the time. The facades were adorned with risalits, three on each side, topped with towers featuring semicircular window openings. The balcony was also unusual, with an ornate concrete railing designed in the form of a decorative plant pattern. With a height of 40 meters, the elevator became the tallest building in Chelyabinsk, and its capacity reached 1 million poods. Although the grain storage was initially built on the outskirts, over time it became the center of the trading life of the old city, forming the main market square of Chelyabinsk.

It can be confidently said that Konstantin Zhukov built the elevator with care. It served its direct purpose until the early 1990s. Then, left without an owner, the building began to deteriorate rapidly: decorative elements fell off, small cracks appeared, and windows were broken in places. By 2014, the elevator had turned into a terrible concrete monstrosity, reminiscent of sets from post-apocalyptic films. Therefore, it is not surprising that Chelyabinsk's 'wonder' made it to the top three ugliest buildings in the country, taking second place, surpassed only by an abandoned tower in Chukhloma, Kostroma region. An old inscription still remains on the facade: 'Chelyabinsk Elevator of the State Bank,' as a reminder of its glorious past.