The lookout tower on Mount Mařenka in the Třebíč region will be completed by mid-summer

designer: arch. Martin Franěk (Atelier Penta)

Rokytnice nad Rokytnou (Třebíč region) - A new lookout tower on Mařenka Hill in the Třebíč region will be constructed by mid-summer. Builders will start the construction of the 31-meter-high tower made of stone, metal, and wood as soon as the weather permits. The work could be completed as early as July. The viewing platform will then be freely accessible to the public. There will be no admission fee, said the mayor of Rokytnice nad Rokytnou, Josef Herbrych (for KDU-ČSL).
    The lookout tower, which is being prepared by seven municipalities, will cost around seven million crowns. For municipalities with a total of approximately 3,300 residents, securing the construction with the promised grant is not a simple matter. They will take out a loan for it. The lookout tower will not bring them any profit even after it opens.
    "But we perceive it as a certain kind of patriotism. After all, it is the highest peak in the Třebíč region; we would like to make it special here," said Herbrych. According to him, the lookout tower could attract tourists because it will be roughly halfway between the cities with UNESCO monuments - Telč and Třebíč.
    On Mařenka Hill, which, at an altitude of 711 meters, is the highest point in the Třebíč region, there was a lookout tower until the middle of the last century when it fell during a storm. The surrounding municipalities have been striving for its restoration for about 12 years. Last year, the Microregion Podhůří Mařenky, which unites not only Rokytnice nad Rokytnou but also Markvartice, Předín, Štěměchy, Čáslavice, Římov, and Chlístov, secured three million crowns from European funds for this construction.
    The lookout will consist of a nine-meter-high stone base. On it, a metal structure with a spiral staircase and wooden elements will be added to help the building blend better with the surrounding forest. The lookout tower will exceed the treetops by about five meters. Five companies competed for the contract, and the contract was won by the Brno-based Lavimont with the lowest price. Construction can begin once the soil on the hill dries out to prevent damage from machines crossing it. Mařenka is among the protected areas. On the slope of this hill, remnants of the original beech forest, which now has a primeval character, can be found.