#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. But the correct answer meant Komsomolskaya street with the House of Communications, the House of Press, the House of Life, the House of Trade and the Palace of Justice.
The House of Communications and the House of Press were the first to appear on Komsomolskaya street. In 1974, the central communication hub was opened first. It was a large building with comfortable spacious rooms on the ground floor. The long-distance telephone and telegraph communication hall worked around the clock there. The first visitor was given a souvenir and was allowed to talk intercity for an hour for free on the opening day.
The city newspaper wrote:
It became possible to issue pensions and state benefits directly at the post office after the opening of a new comfortable House of Communications.
Soon the newspaper itself moved to Komsomolskaya Street. In 1977, the Press House grew up, the editorial office of Zapolyarnaya Pravda and a printing house settled there. Then there was a proposal to rename a part of Komsomolskaya street into Zapolyarnaya Pravda street, by analogy with the Krasnoyarsk Krasrab avenue named after the Krasnoyarsky Rabochiy newspaper.
For a long time, the House of Communications and the House of Press remained the only buildings in the center of the Komsomolskaya street’s odd side. They stood in the middle of a wasteland, and their neighbors were only Duck Lake and garage-beams.
In 1984, another “house” was built on Komsomolskaya street. It was the House of Life. Its full name is the Universal house of consumer services Norilsk. The construction was taken over by the city Komsomol committee.
Artists from Novosibirsk, Leningrad, Moscow, Tbilisi headed by Norilsk resident Boris Poley worked on the House of Life interiors. The seven-story building with marble staircases and painted false ceilings staggered the imagination.
The city newspaper wrote:
There are few buildings like it not only in the region, but also in the country. The Universal house of consumer services took upon itself the task to provide a high culture of northern service, to ensure that everything manufactured in Norilsk is the most fashionable, modern and beautiful.
In 1988, the People’s Court moved from the old building in the 17th quarter to the new Palace of Justice. And finally, in 1990, the House of Integrated Trade opened its doors, another “house” of Komsomolskaya street – the future Arctic Museum of Modern Art (АММА).
In the History Spot photo project previous publication, we told that Boris Kolesnikov had headed the Norilsk Combine for 15 years.
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Text: Svetlana Ferapontova, Photo: Nornickel Polar Division archive
