Border town Tachov has a project for a lookout tower, there is currently none in the surrounding area

design: Architectural Studio Hysek

Tachov - The thirteen-thousand-strong Tachov has completed the project for a twenty-five-meter lookout tower above the city. It is now waiting for the issuance of a building permit. The fourth largest city in the Plzeň Region currently lacks a tourist lookout. Locals and visitors want it, said Mayor Ladislav Macák to ČTK. The town hall has acquired all the necessary land since the end of last year, and the construction is completely ready. However, according to city officials, a strict condition for starting the construction of the tower is obtaining a subsidy.
     "We have applied for money from the European ROP program, from the last remnants that are there. If any subsidies come through, the lookout will be built; otherwise, it won't. We are willing to contribute up to 30 percent of the construction cost from our own funds; otherwise, the project will remain on hold," said the mayor.
     From the viewpoint on the highest surrounding hill, Vysoká, which will be accessible year-round, one can see as far as Germany and all the surrounding hills of the Český les. There are already 40 lookout towers and observation points in the Plzeň Region.
     The lookout itself will cost three million crowns; the city had to pay additional money to the Land Fund. "For a piece of land, approximately 200 meters, where the path to the lookout will be, we paid over 200,000 crowns. To that, we must add the area exchanges," said Macák.
     People want the lookout. At the annual tourist meeting, many asked me about it, Macák stated. It would make Tachov and its surroundings more attractive, according to him. "Just because of the walls, no one will come here. The riding school in Světce also attracts, but for how long, if nothing else is added," he added. Moreover, the city cannot open a permanent tour route in this newly declared national cultural monument because it lacks 80 million for completing repairs and modifications.
     The lookout project was developed by the Plzeň Architectural Studio Hysek, which already designed an outdoor swimming pool with attractions in Tachov. The structure is to be made of galvanized steel so that it cannot be damaged by vandals. The tower would be unstaffed, accessible to the public free of charge and year-round.
     People could walk along the side of the hill, where they ski in winter and where there are city forests, all the way to the riding school in Světce. On Vysoká, there is a city monument commemorating the Hussite battle near Tachov in 1427. In the past, a wooden lookout and chapel stood at this former pilgrimage site. The dominant feature of Tachov, the church in the square belonging to the church, is not accessible to the public, so there is no place to look out over the countryside. The only lookout tower in the area is an older masonry lookout in Planá, about 15 kilometers from Tachov.