#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. In the same summer, the construction of the Norilsk-Talnah highway was completed, and for the first time the banks of the Norilka river were connected by a temporary pontoon bridge. Already at the end of June, the first five lorries passed along 44 pontoons to the right bank.
And on July 29, 1963, the first specialist of the bridge-building detachment No. 7 appeared near the Norilka – and the bridge’s seven pillars strode across the river. It was built for the next two years, the last truss was installed in June 1965.
In February 1963, the Council of Ministers of the USSR adopted a significant decision for Norilsk: to start construction of the first hydroelectric power station in Taimyr – the Ust-Hantai hydroelectric power station. On May 17, the An-2 aircraft brought the first group of builders to the construction site of the future hydroelectric power station. A slogan was hung on a tent set up in the middle of the tundra: “We will move apart the blizzard forest, we will build the Hantai hydroelectric power station!”.
Back in 1963, the authorities decided to develop a network of catering enterprises in Norilsk. The construction of several food points and the restructuring of reputable cafes and restaurants began on Leninsky prospect. In each Norilsk microdistrict, a house kitchen with semi-finished products was opened. Also in 1963, the consumption of strong alcohol in restaurants was limited to 180 grams per eater (and only when ordering a hot dish). The concepts “open tasting”, “signature dish”, “complex lunch” entered the townspeople’s vocabulary.
In the summer of 1963, the first Norilsk ice cream appeared. And five years later, on a hot summer day, Norilsk residents ate 650 kilograms of cold treats. The old dairy produced milk, cottage cheese, sour cream, kefir, cheese mass and, of course, ice cream – in those years it was in waffle cups.
On November 26, 1963, a local community of tourism enthusiasts, the Taimyr Tourist Club, was created in Norilsk.
In the History Spot’s previous publication, we told that in 1958 Norilsk was waiting for big changes.
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Text: Svetlana Ferapontova, Photo: Nornickel Polar Branch archive
