Fence repair in Kamenyuki, 2009

Events, facts, documents and evidence: As two-storied apartment buildings were erected for new Belovezhskaya Pushcha employees along the main street in the village of Kamenyuki in the 1980's, builders ran a nice-looking fence along both the sides of the road. The special feature of that fence, immediately noticed by tourists, was the shapes of the wisent, deer and wild boar painted on diamond-shaped boards attached to the fence at regular intervals. In the past, the fence was repaired and re-painted as needed, which helped retain its original appearance for a long time.
Neglected in the 2000's, the fence became dilapidated over the course of nine years. Parts of the fence decayed and collapsed. The shapes of the Belovezhskaya Pushcha beasts disappeared from the boards as the paint peeled off, and many of the boards themselves came off and were thrown away.

The photos below show surviving parts of the fence. The animal shapes and some of the diamond-shaped boards are missing.

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(The fence with boards; May 15, 2008)

Parts of the fence were damaged by trees uprooted by violent windstorms and never repaired.

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(The fence damaged by a fallen lime tree; February 22, 2008)

The shots below show sections of the decayed and collapsed wooden fence.

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(The broken fence ; 1 - 5 - April 30, 2008, the rest of the photographs - May 15, 2008)

The shot below shows a notice board.

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(A notice board, May 15, 2008)

Construction of stone fences began in the village in 2001 after the appointment of the current Belovezhskaya Pushcha management, although the name of the village, derived from the Belarusian word for stone, has nothing to do with stone fences, and they have never been a feature of Kamenyuki's architecture. In addition, the stone "wall" looked rather simplistic and impersonal. Anyway, the purpose of building the stone fences, as well as the size and recipients of the funds spent on the project (especially in comparison to local wages), are well known to the national park accountants who were fired at that time.
The shots below show a stone fence erected in 2001.

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(A stone "wall", October 27, 2003)
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(The same stone "wall", May 15, 2008)

Another stone fence, this time a much more attractive one, was built a year later opposite the first one, around the site of the future church.
The shot below shows the stone fence near the church.

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(The stone fence around the church, May 15, 2009)


The plan of preparations for the 600th anniversary of Belovezhskaya Pushcha's protection provided for an overhaul of the transit sections of the roads in Kamenyuki, which included a new fence along the main street.

The first thing they did was to take apart the old fence and use the wood as stove fuel.

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(The old fence being removed; 1 - August 9; 2 - August 11; 3 - August 29, 2009)

The old fence was replaced with a stone footing which served as the base for concrete poles.

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(The footing for the new fence; 1 and 3 - July 20, 2009, 2 - August 11, 2009)
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(The footing for the new fence; 1 - August 14, 2009, 2 - August 17, 2009)

The work went on and on, only stopping when it was raining.

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(The footing for the new fence; August 12, 2009)

Sections of the new wooden fence were put together by district housing management workers and delivered to the village to be installed on the pre-fabricated footing. The first sections installed were painted in Kamenyuki.

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(The first section of the new fence; August 9, 2009)

Then, however, it was decided that painting fence sections at the district housing maintenance facility was a more efficient process.
The shots below show builders erecting a section of the fence which was pre-painted brown.

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(Installation of a new fence section; August 24, 2009)
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(The new fence being installed; August 22, 2009)

Then painters applied a coating of paint to the footing.

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(The fence footing being painted; August 28, 2009)

The wooden boards attached to the stone fence surrounding the church were replaced, too.

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(Wooden boards being replaced; September 9, 2009)

The stone "wall" built in 2001 was left intact. Nothing much changed apart from the passage to the former culture venue which was filled with stone. Apparently, the only thing that could be done about the stone fence was demolishing it altogether and replacing it with a new, nicer-looking fence. However, this remains an impossibility, as the stupidity and strategic planning and esthetic errors made by the national park's management back in 2001 would become too obvious to anyone who has doubts.
Below: the stone "wall" left intact. The last two shots show the stone fence against the background of the newly-built fence.

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(The stone "wall" against the background of the newly-built fence; September 9, 2009)

The photographs below show the new fence along the main street in Kamenyuki after the completion of the work. The fences along the side streets were not repaired.

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(The new fence, August 22, 2009)