New observation tower adorns the Polish city of Elk

It was constructed as part of an EU-funded collaboration

Residents and visitors to the Polish city of Ełk are in for a pleasant new surprise. The city authorities informed a couple of days ago of the completion of a brand-new lookout tower in the Bogdanowicza estate. The facility, overlooking the lake with the same name, was created with European funding, as part of a cross-border cooperation project.

Enhancing the tourism attractiveness of the cross-border region with EU funding

Ełk is a city of 61 thousand inhabitants, located in north-eastern Poland. It is also the largest and most populous city in Masuria and the main industrial and cultural centre in the region. Thanks to its location overlooking several lakes in the midst of a forest, it is a popular attraction for hiking, water tourism and fishing.

Recently, the city further enhanced its tourism attractiveness, with EU financial assistance for the construction of an almost 19-meter lookout tower at Piękna street. The lookout tower was built as part of an EU co-project entitled “Cross-border tourist area in the city of Ełk and Kaunas” implemented in cooperation with the city of Kaunas in Lithuania.

The tower has a steel structure with decorative wooden arches and three viewing platforms at a height of approximately 5, 10 and 15 metres, connected by an internal staircase. Lighting and monitoring were also installed.

The city obtained over PLN 1.4 million (around 309 thousand euros) under the INTERREG Lithuania-Poland Program for the purpose. The total value of the entire project is over PLN 1.7 million, which covers the cost of the tower and the monitoring of the project implementation.

Apart from the construction of the tower, the project comprises a number of non-investment activities, including:

• training for tourist guides from both cities,
• developing the Ełk and Kaunas heritage route (maps, mobile application, audio guide),
• study visits of journalists from the tourism industry in both cities, articles in national media in Poland and Lithuania.