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As part of a joint research project with the Vladimir Potanin Foundation, specialists from the Agency for strategic development "CENTER" examined efforts to preserve the former Unsky Sawmill at Cape Zayatsky in Onezhskoye Pomorye National Park. An industrial heritage and memorial complex is being developed on the site of the former enterprise, bringing together the historic landscape, surviving industrial equipment and the memory of Soviet special settlers.

The Unsky Sawmill was built in 1931. A workers' settlement developed around it, with a population that included special settlers — people forcibly relocated under Soviet policies. Following a fire in 1951, the sawmill closed and its residents were resettled. Surviving features include brick walls, a water basin, wells and two portable steam engines.

The first stage of the initiative was the People and Steam Engines project, launched in 2024. National park staff conducted field expeditions, researched archives, interviewed descendants of special settlers and prepared materials for a book entitled Fracture. This research established the foundation for the future exhibition.

"The project will create an exhibition space within a preserved historic landscape, incorporating steam engines, a water basin, wells and other industrial structures. The complex will become a visitor attraction and has already been included in the national park's tourism programmes," said Marina Melyutina, Head of the Department for the Study and Interpretation of Historical and Cultural Heritage at Kenozersky National Park and Scientific Director of the People and Steam Engines project.

The surviving industrial equipment is being restored in situ. This approach preserves the connection between the machinery and its original industrial setting, allowing its history to be interpreted through the work and everyday lives of the people associated with the sawmill, rather than solely through technical specifications.

Art installations and site-specific works are planned for the locations of the former production buildings. The exhibition narrative will unfold through three perspectives: a Komsomol member, a special settler and a young girl. A digital media archive entitled The Lost Sawmill will continue to grow through photographs, letters and personal recollections contributed by descendants of the settlement's former residents.

The researchers identified several strengths of the initiative, including its systematic progression from historical research to the creation of a public heritage space, institutional support from the national park and volunteer involvement. The main challenges include complex logistics, the site's remote location and a shortage of restoration specialists capable of working with industrial machinery in field conditions.

"At Cape Zayatsky, research has become a preservation mechanism in its own right: oral histories, archival records and archaeological materials were collected before the exhibition was developed. As a result, the future heritage park will be able to present not only the sawmill's industrial equipment but also the human stories embedded in its industrial landscape," said Andrei Vashchuk, Lead Project Analyst at the Agency for strategic development "CENTER".

The case was examined as part of the research project Analysis of Practices for the Capitalization and Representation of Industrial Heritage, implemented by Agency "CENTER" at the initiative of the Vladimir Potanin Foundation. The final findings will be presented to the professional community in late 2026.