Jihlava evaluated five proposals in the lookout tower competition, the winner will be announced on Wednesday

Jihlava - In the architectural competition for a new observation tower in Jihlava, the jury assessed five proposals. People will be able to view them on the ground floor of the town hall starting November 12, when the city leadership will present the winner of the competition. This was stated today by Deputy Mayor Radek Popelka (ANO) to reporters. He mentioned that if everything goes well, construction of the observation tower on Šacberk Hill could start next autumn.

The city invited six architectural studios to participate in the competition, one of which declined. "The jury was very pleasantly surprised by the quality of the proposals," said Popelka. The city will negotiate a contract for the project documentation for the observation tower with the winning studio. Before construction begins, it must also finalize the amendments to the land-use plan.

The restoration of the observation tower on Šacberk was approved by the Jihlava city council in February this year. They allocated 2.4 million crowns for the organization of the architectural competition. The city administration then stated that the observation tower could cost between 18 and 20 million crowns. A private donor has promised to contribute to it, and at their request, the tower will be named Honzík.

The observation tower on Šacberk burned down in 1940, leaving only a stone fragment. Past efforts to restore the tower at its original location faced the issue that it would interfere with the transmission of signals from a nearby transmitter. In cooperation with telecommunications, another location on the hill was selected for it.

Šacberk is also associated with the former silver mining in the Jihlava region. A nature trail leads to the top, where the Saint George shaft was uncovered last year. The city also wants to create a mining village to commemorate the history of mining. It has selected a team of architects who are developing a study and project documentation. According to Popelka, the completion of this project must also precede the change in the land-use plan.