Norilsk swimming pool planned to be built in the 1940s
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Norilsk swimming pool planned to be built in the 1940s

June 21, 2021

Initially, they wanted to build the pool on the shore of a natural reservoir using the warm waters of the thermal power plant.

#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. In 1944, a competition was held for the best design of a wooden indoor swimming pool. But at that time it did not come to construction. The construction of the pool building on the mountain, in the park named after the 30th anniversary of the Komsomol, began in 1957.

The pool design was typical, but the Norilsk architects adapted it to northern conditions. For example, in order not to thaw the permafrost, the bath was not placed on the ground, but was put on 32 foundation pillars.

Like other important objects of the 1950s, the construction of the pool received the status of a people’s construction site, to which both the workers of the combine and high school students were sent in their free time.

In 1959, the work was completed and the pool was a gift for the 42nd anniversary of the October Revolution.

For the opening holiday, tickets were distributed among enterprises. The stands could accommodate 400 people, but there were many more of them.
128 swimmers and divers took part in demonstration competitions. According to tradition, the main builder was the first to bathe in the pool. Dmitry Muravyov – the head of the construction site, and at the same time a well-known sportsman in the city and a judge of the all-Union category carried thee can.

Since the opening, the pool worked 17 hours a day. Every month eight thousand people passed through it.

There was also time for excursions. Workers and employees, residents of Norilsk and visitors aspired to look at the polar basin as a miracle of the Soviet North. They were taken along the balcony, technical rooms and were told that the bathtub was designed for a million liters of water, and the filtration system ensured that harmful impurities were removed.

The tourists were met by Iskander Fayzullin himself, the legendary first director of the pool, the world record holder in open water swimming, the famous marathon swimmer who conquered the Danube, Volga and Amur.

For other issues of our photo project about the history of the city and the combine, go to the History spot section.

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Text: Svetlana Samohina, Photo: Nornickel Polar Division archive

June 21, 2021

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