Description of the attraction
The Museum of the History of the Pikalevo Alumina Refinery has existed for almost twenty years. The first exhibition dedicated to the Pikalevsky plant "Alumina" was opened on November 5, 1987. The exhibition was attended by the heads of the enterprise, its leading specialists, labor veterans, representatives of the party and trade union committees, and ordinary residents of the city. The museum was opened by Khoren Azarapetovich Badalyants, the general director of the association, a hero of Socialist Labor, who put a lot of effort into opening the museum. The museum consisted of six halls, in which visitors got acquainted with photographs taken during the construction of the plant, portraits of foremost workers and labor veterans, product samples and a technological scheme for processing nepheline raw materials. The exhibition was prepared by the staff of the local history museum.
Work on the organization of the museum began in 1969. Tuzhilkin Ivan Mikhailovich made a great contribution to this difficult business, who wrote the first historical information about the Pikalevsky alumina refinery, who is an honorary citizen of the city. In 1985, work on the creation of the museum was continued by Yu. I. Kuzin, head of the technical training department. The public council of the museum, which consisted of employees of the enterprise, collected a lot of material about the history of factories and workshops, incl. albums, photographs, Books of Honor. It was on this basis that the first exhibition was formed in 1987.
After that, work began on the preparation of a permanent museum exhibition. Almost every day the photographer A. F. Semenenko, a knowledgeable specialist with extensive experience, photographed the plant in the alumina shop. Thanks to the masterfully executed photographs, after many years, visitors to the museum can see and learn about the events of those years, the people who worked here and the results of their labor.
During the existence of the museum, it was visited by numerous residents of the city and its guests. It is regularly visited by schoolchildren, students of the Volkhov Aluminum College, students of the mining institute. The museum was visited by guests from Japan, Finland, Germany.
In the year of the 50th anniversary of the Victory, an exhibition was organized dedicated to the workers of the plant - participants in the war, which was visited by veterans. Some donated photographs and personal belongings to the museum. Thus, the tunic of E. P. Demchenko and the pilot's tablet V. A. Dolgikh, letters of I. S. Okunev and thanks to P. A. Neshina.
In preparation for the fortieth anniversary of the first release of Pikalevsky alumina, veterans wrote their memoirs about those days. In September 1999 it was held in honor of the 40th anniversary of the enterprise. The townspeople who visited the exhibition saw their photographs on the stands. About 200 portraits, about 300 types of factories, photographs of teams of brigades and shifts were presented here.
Many schoolchildren of the city, students of the Volkhov Aluminum College, St. Petersburg Regional Mining University turn to the museum for help, preparing essays, practice reports, graduation projects and always receive the materials they need.
On September 16, 2004, on the eve of the celebration of the 45th anniversary of the enterprise, a renewed exposition “Pikalevo Alumina Refinery - Yesterday and Today” was opened. The heads of the enterprise, trade union leaders, veterans, representatives of the city administration in the halls of the museum got acquainted with photographs of different years, portraits of the best people of the plant and the city, awards of the enterprise, household items of the builders of the association, commemorative signs, product samples and Books of Honor.
The life of the Pikalevo Alumina Refinery and the city are inextricably linked. Speaking about the history of the association, one cannot fail to mention the city. The exposition of the museum of history of "Pikalevo Alumina Refinery" tells not only about the construction of the plant, but also about the formation of the city, about the workers of the association and the Honorary Citizens of the city.
The factory museum is engaged not only in collecting and storing exhibits related to the history of the city-forming enterprise, keeps the memories of veterans, but also does a lot of work to promote history, teaches us to love and be proud of our homeland. The Pikalevo Factory Museum is a link connecting yesterday and today.
