I'm pretty sure most people here are familiar with the
Palace of the Soviets:
A gargantuan structure that gave birth to an entire style of construction known as Stalinist Architecture, and if it had been built would've been the Soviet Union's new administrative center and congress hall for the entire Soviet government.
Unfortunately for them, it was never completed: the foundations were completed in 1939, and by 1941 the steel frame for the lower levels of the structure were erected... but, of course, guess what happened in 1941? The Nazis invaded. Construction was halted as resources were re-prioritized towards the defense of the Motherland, and the steel frame that was just recently installed was ripped back out to be used in the defense of Moscow; the empty foundation was left derelict and ended up filled with seepage water until 1958 - but by then, Stalin was long dead, and Khrushchev scrapped any further Stalinist Architecture projects. The foundations were cleaned up and recycled as the world's largest open-air public swimming pool until 1995 (four years after the fall of the Soviet Union), when the Cathedral of Christ the Savior (which was the previous occupant of the Palace's construction site before it was demolished) was rebuilt in its original spot, resetting everything back to square one and putting an end to the story of the Palace of the Soviets.
With all the backstory now said and done: what if the Palace of the Soviets
did get constructed as originally intended?
Say that the construction of the initial foundations was delayed and were only completed in 1940; the steel to be used in the frame for the lower levels had yet to be churned out before the Nazis invaded in 1941, so the steel frames never needed to be cut out and the foundations remained clean until the end of the war. Once the war ended, Stalin decides to resume construction on the Palace - because damnit, he wasn't going to take "No" for an answer! - and by 1950 by the latest, the Palace of the Soviets is completed and given a grand opening for all the world to see.
As for the ginormous statue of Lenin that was supposed to crown the spire of the Palace tower: would they have been able to even place the giant thing on top of the building, or would they have decided to be more sensible and put it in Leningrad as a Statue of Liberty analogue or something, and used a smaller statue in its place on top of the Palace (like a replica of the
Worker and Kolkhoz Woman sculpture)?
Would the presence of the Palace of the Soviets have any significant impact on Soviet history after its completion? Would it stand the test of time even after the Soviet Union collapses (if it even does in this timeline)? What do you think?