The Forest Institute was established at the northern end of the street under the reign of Emperor Alexander I of Russia on a part of the grounds of the failed English farm.

Proximity to the Baltic Sea and the Neva River delta and postglacial landscape made soils of the future city grounds swampy, which influenced urban development.

Thus during the original excavation of the two tunnels between Lesnaya and the next station of the line, Ploschad' Muzhestva in early 1970s water rushed into the hollowed underground space.

The two ends of these tunnel sections were sealed off and the line was cut into two parts of unequal length joined on the surface on the order of city authorities by a free-of-charge bus service.

The building was redecorated, and major works were carried out in the escalator tunnel, as has been done on other stations: walls had a new hydrophobic treatment and were covered with easily mounted lining instead of the previous plastering; the escalators were covered with shiny metal sheets for fire resistance and their standing lights that could potentially be vandalised were replaced with lines of light emitting diodes, which also saves electricity.