A project at the summit

The origins of the project can be traced back to 1999, when the Economic Affairs Ministry first looked at ideas for projects within the framework of the PHARE ESC1 2000 programme. The County of Võru and the Municipality of Haanja teamed up to propose the construction of a leisure centre at the foot of the highest hill in Estonia, or indeed anywhere in the Baltic countries, the Suur Munamägi (Mother Hill), which rises to... 318 metres. Due to its relief, the Haanja region was already popular with cross-country skiers in winter and mountain bikers in summer, but there was no infrastructure for visitors. The dual challenge was therefore to set up a multipurpose centre (with changing rooms, cafeteria, ski hire centre, etc.) and to improve the trails to comply with the International Skiing Federation's standards in order to be able to hold top-level competitions. That meant remodelling and widening the existing trails and buying a special snowplough and other maintenance equipment. It was also very important to provide lighting for the existing cross-country ski trails given that there is only six to seven hours of daylight in winter. Most importantly, the centre needed a marketing plan to promote the area inside Estonia and in neighbouring countries. The most difficult part was the implementation phase. The evaluation of the environmental impact and infrastructure design required a great deal of time and effort. Then, once the technical and architectural specifications had been drawn up, it became clear that the resources earmarked for the project were nowhere near sufficient. But, as they say, where there's a will there's a way! The municipality came up with extra funds and so did the Estonian Government. In this respect, the whole process of implementation showed how important or even essential it is to be able to count on good cooperation between the local and central authorities. The result is a very beautiful multipurpose centre which is perfectly in keeping with the environment, providing facilities for skiers in winter and mountain bikers and hikers in summer, who come to admire the view from the summit of Estonia. The centre can cater for seminars of up to 60 people. The skiers can choose between 1, 3, 5 and 10 km trails with lighting along a 3.2 km section to permit skiing until nine in the evening. The project cost EUR 636 000, to which the European Union contributed EUR 395 000, the Estonian Government 117 000, and the Municipality of Haanja 124 000. At the inauguration of the Haanja Sports and Leisure Centre in December 2003, Mati Alaver - trainer with the Estonian cross-country skiing team and the man who has brought several Estonian skiers to the Olympic Games and World Championships – effectively summed up the project’s success: "in opening a sports and leisure centre in this region, the authorities have fulfilled their mission for all sports lovers." His words sent a strong signal to the project team who worked tirelessly and intelligently for three years to achieve this result. This first experience of managing an economic and social cohesion project involving European funds was a difficult exercise for the Municipality of Haanja. But this success has resulted in the approval of a new PHARE ESC project due to start in 2004. This will involve the complete renovation of the tower erected on the summit of Estonia in 1939, and renovated for the first time back in 1969. (1) ESC: Economic and Social Cohesion.