I have chosen Barnaul river port renovation as the topic of my thesis work since this port is an architectural heritage of my hometown, the location, surrounding buildings and the position of an entrance to the city from water contribute to the fact that the building of the river port becomes the starting point for tourist routes. The comparative analysis devoted to river port buildings has shown that the functions of river ports all over the world have undergone considerable changes. River ports quickly gained popularity in the middle of the XX century and soon lost it. They were replaced by railway which is an all-weather means of transport. As an architectural phenomenon having had a rich history in the USSR the building have become the subject matter of the project whose purpose is to draw attention to the crisis of river ports as well as to place there cultural institution, education and entertainment centers.