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New towers hoped to lure visitors

Project features park in Prague 14, zoo lookout in bid to boost tourism

By Curtis M. Wong
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
August 20th, 2008 issue

HEATHER FAULKNER/The Prague Post
Critics of the project say the industry should focus on attracting tourists to existing downtown sites, such as the tower on Petřín Hill, above.
COURTESY PHOTO
The U Čeňku park in Prague 14 will cover 170 hectares, making it the city's largest, and is slated to cost approximately 350 million Kč.
Prague 14 officials are hoping the construction of a new recreational park, to be located between the Černý Most, Dolní Počernice and Hostavice neighborhoods, will help to boost the city’s sagging tourist numbers.
Extending over 170 hectares (420 acres), the new U Čeňku park will be the city’s largest, and will include a botanical garden, special sports facilities, horse pastures and an inline skating route. Another key component will be a new lookout tower, similar to the tower on Petřín Hill. An estimated opening date for the new park, as well as for the lookout tower, has yet to be determined, although officials say they expect a tender to be finalized within the next year or so.   
Authorities said they hope U Čeňku will be a haven for locals, much like Stromovka and Letná parks. Along with the new lookout tower, other attractions, including a miniature golf course, a volleyball court and a children’s playground, will be added gradually. These will assist in making the park attractive for out-of-town visitors as well.
“Above all, Prague 14 residents should benefit from the possibility of recreation and sport activities at U Čeňku,” said Lenka Kučerová, spokeswoman for Prague 14. “The tower itself is just one small part of the whole project, and it should give park visitors good views of the surrounding areas and beyond.”
The cost of the U Čeňku project will be approximately 350 million Kč ($21.9 million), although a final design firm for both the park and its tower has yet to be selected. Furthermore, the plans are awaiting final approval from City Hall’s planning and zoning department, although no complications are currently anticipated, said Milan Rosol, head of the structural engineering division at City Hall.   
The new lookout tower at U Čeňku is actually one of two such structures that will soon grace the city skyline. On Aug. 11, Prague Zoo officials announced plans to construct a similar tower on the northern segment of its property that would provide panoramic views of the zoo, the Vltava River, Prague Castle and beyond. Zoo officials say they hope the tower will welcome its first guests in early 2009.
“We are a city-based zoo and our main customers are Czech families with children, some of whom visit several times in one year,” said Vít Kahle, the zoo’s spokesman, adding that entry to the tower will be included in zoo admission. “For them, I think the new tower will be a great benefit. It will be located in one of the zoo’s nicest areas and will hopefully be another good reason to spend time at the zoo.”
Like the tower on Petřín Hill, which was built as a one-fifth scale model of Paris’ Eiffel Tower, the zoo’s tower will be built as a replica of the 17-meter tower that once stood in Jizerské hory mountains in north Bohemia. Construction will begin in mid-September and is expected to wrap by January 2009.
The new towers will not rival the 134-meter-high Žižkov television tower as both the city and country’s tallest, nor will they be likely to challenge the 60-meter-high Petřín Hill tower as the most visited. Regardless, officials say they hope the new structures and U Čeňku park will help boost the city’s tourist numbers, both domestically and abroad.
But local tourist authorities are skeptical, saying the money would be better invested in improving the city’s existing image rather than by adding new attractions.  
“Investors seem to think the problem is generally related to the quality and number of our attractions,” said Tomio Okamura, spokesman for the Association of Tour Operators and Travel Agents of the Czech Republic (AČCKA), adding that the city has struggled to appeal to return visitors, particularly from the United States and Western Europe. “It’s easier to make investments in this area. But the basic problem is not a shortage of sights.”
Increasing the number of tourist attractions is a logical second step, he added, but there’s a lot of work to do in promoting the city as a destination beforehand.

Curtis M. Wong can be reached at cwong@praguepost.com


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