On the site where the Creativity Center now stands, there once stood the house of the governor of the Tambov province, where Gavrila Romanovich Derzhavin lived. Here he hosted receptions and theatrical performances, observing from the windows the central square of the city, then called the Governor's Square, and the Tsna River with its surroundings.

Today, the Creativity Center is surrounded by new buildings, including the RIO shopping mall, which has left the city embankment without improvement for about five years. The site of the Pioneer Park from the 1940s and 1950s now hosts the building of the Rosreestr.

In the engraving by architect V.A. Usachev from 1799, one can see what the wooden governor's house, where Derzhavin lived, looked like. The house faced the Tsna River, at the location of the wooden Tsensky Bridge leading to the Penza road (now the Rasskazovsky highway). Archival documents have preserved a description of the house with its rooms, wings, and utility spaces. The wings were used for state needs, housing a pharmacist, and later the Joint Court of the Upper Justice and the Lower Zemsky Court convened there. During Derzhavin's service in Tambov, from 1786 to 1788, the house was in good condition, unlike the residence of Governor-General I.V. Gudovich. It was from this house that Derzhavin left for Moscow in January 1789 to attend a court regarding the construction of a stone bridge over the Studenets River.

The old governor's house existed even in the first third of the 19th century, even after the construction of a new stone building on Cathedral Square in 1830. On the Tambov plan of 1832, Derzhavin's house is marked with the number 17.

In 1834, the Alexandrinsky Institute for Noble Maidens was founded under the patronage of Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna. In 1836, Emperor Nicholas I visited the city and supported the nobility's initiative by transferring the estate of the old governor's house to the institute. At that time, the main estate building was dilapidated but still standing. The building for the institute, facing Palace Street (now Soviet Street), was constructed in 1843 according to the design of architect Alexander Bryullov. It is unknown when the memorial building disappeared, but the townspeople always remembered it.

In 1918, the Alexandrinsky Institute was closed, and its building was used by various educational institutions. From 1932, it housed Railway School No. 51, which utilized the large park for students' walks and games, competitions, and rehearsals for city celebrations.

During the Great Patriotic War, the building served as a military hospital. After the war, it was transferred to the Tambov State Pedagogical Institute, and now it houses the Medical Institute of Tambov State University named after G.R. Derzhavin.

The Tambov plan of 1832 allows us to determine the location of the governor's house on the modern map. The lines of the blocks show that the building was located almost on the axis of Penza-Gymnasium Street (now Kommunalnaya). The construction of the Palace of Pioneers in 1958-1961 may have partially affected the foundations of the old house. Unfortunately, in 2010, when earthworks began near the Palace of Pioneers for the RIO shopping mall, archaeological research was not conducted.

In the 1980s, about 7,000 schoolchildren visited the Palace of Pioneers, but now there are only 800. Previously, activities took place from morning until evening, but now the building remains empty until noon, and silence reigns in its rooms. From the windows, one can still see the same views that Derzhavin admired.