The park began with an abandoned wasteland, mentioned by Gilyarovsky in his book “Moscow and Muscovites”.

Old-timers will tell you that they used to fish here — a special digging pond was dug for this purpose. Such ponds are usually made where there is some lowering of the soil, the area is dry or one part is slightly higher than the other - if the aquifer is quite close to the surface. The soil removed from the bottom of the excavation is laid around. So there were such ponds, named after the first tenant of the land.

At the moment, only one pond has survived - Seleznevsky, renamed after the name of the street. Its mirror area is 0.36 hectares, its shape is rectangular and rounded.

The ponds were deep, with Neglinka, which passes right there, in the reservoir, they were connected by long streams. The concrete banks of the pond stand on wooden stilts. It has become shallow and lives out its days peacefully — the territory of a small park has been landscaped, equipped with railings, and a bird house was installed.

There used to be other ponds, which, alas, were filled up — swallowed up by new buildings.

Now the banks of the pond have been landscaped: all the silt and bottom sediments have been removed, dirty water has been lowered and new water has been poured, and the shore is strengthened with larch piles. Grass grows on the banks, a public garden and benches are set up.

However, the sign “Do not swim” near the pond is still standing today.

At the moment, the territory of the garden is surrounded by a concrete fence and is under the jurisdiction of the FSB. For many years now, the work of local residents to defend the garden has been in vain, since these are federal states.