#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. This house was originally designed as an ordinary residential two-story building, but due to the lack of cultural centers, it was converted into a cinema hall.
In 1953, the theater stage, which was located in the Old Town, sank. And the polar temple of Melpomene was hastily transported to Sevastopolskaya street, 20, a stage, dressing rooms and a foyer to the cinema hall were added.
The drama theater was located on Sevastopolskaya street for more than 30 years, which is why the street became a cultural broadway of Norilsk.
But all those years the building was considered temporary, because even according to the project of the 1940s, a place for the theater was allocated in the center of Leninsky prospect. Because of this, Dzerzhinsky street, adjacent to the current Teatralnaya square, was originally called Teatralny alley.
By 1987, the new building on Leninsky prospect was finally completed. The main services of the theater even managed to move, when suddenly a fire broke out in the old building. It happened on the night of February 23, 1987. Even the residents of the neighboring hostel had to be evacuated from strong smoke.
A lot of lighting and sound equipment, a wardrobe that had been collected for years, and props perished in the fire. According to theatergoers, it was a very tangible blow.
Now in this courtyard a small brick building reminds of the old theater building. It houses the municipal administration for the roads maintenance and construction. And earlier it was a small stage of the polar Mayakovka (a short name of the Polar Drama theatre named after V. Mayakovsky). By the way, this year the Norilsk theater celebrates two anniversaries at once.
In the last issue of the History Spot photo project, we talked about the first land-based Norilsk airfield Nadezhda and the first planes that the Norilsk residents flew by.
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Text: Svetlana Samohina, Photo: Nornickel Polar Division archive
