With funding from the participatory budget, Brno now has a new lookout tower. With 208 steps to the top, the 35-metre Holedná viewing tower is the tallest in Brno. It is open to the public to enjoy free of charge all year round. Photo credit: Kim Bingel.
Brno, Dec 16 (BD) – Three years have passed since the Holedná viewing tower project won support from the Brno participatory budget in a public vote. The project has now been realised and the tower is open to the public.
“As well as the rich network of castles and chateaux, the Czech Republic is also known for its incredible number of lookout towers. We can find several of them even in Brno and its surrounding areas – in Komárov, on Ostrá horka or on Kamenný vrch. However, the new lookout tower on Holedná can be proud of its title as the tallest in Brno,” said the Mayor of Brno, Markéta Vaňková.
Last year, CZK 8 million were released from the city budget to the municipal company Forests of the City of Brno (‘‘Lesy města Brna’’). After the design and documentation were prepared, it took a year to make the structure of the tower and complete construction.
Forests of the City of Brno have committed to maintaining the tower. “Visitors climb up 208 steps and see the field and Brno from the platform at a height of 34.32 m. Such a height is already enough so that treetops do not block the view of the city and life in the field,” said Jiří Neshyba, Director of Forests of the City of Brno.
The lookout tower is made of steel, it was initially designed to be made of wood and be 20m tall. A field survey using a drone revealed that a wooden tower of that height would be overgrown by the surrounding trees in the near future.
‘‘However, building a lookout tower with a steel skeleton meant exceeding the financial limits of the participatory budget, which set the maximum price of the project at CZK 2.4 million. In the end, however, I managed to convince the city management to fund the lookout tower beyond the participatory budget,” explained Deputy Mayor for Citizen Participation Tomáš Koláčný (Piráti).
The tower is open for visitors, the first of whom came to see the tower despite the cold weather conditions.
See Photos of the Holedná View Tower here:
[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”276″ gal_title=”Holedna View Tower – Lookout”]Photo credit: Kim Bingel.
