Haapsalu shows value of heritage investment

 HAAPSALU - On 4th July, Haapsalu Episcopal Castle reopened after the completion of extensive renovation work. But this was more than a case of a bit of rendering and repoitning - the purpose of the reconstruction was to maximise the site's tourism potential by ceating a visitors' center and a variety of new activities.

"Haapsalu castle, the most famous sight in Lääne Countybuilt in the 13th century, had problems with arranging large scaleevents and offering tourist services," said Monica Hankov, Director ofthe Business Environment Division at Enterprise Estonia.

In short, thousands of tourists every year were arriving at the castle hoping to catch a glimpse of the 'White lady', Estonia's most famous ghost, but had little else to keep them occupied while they waited for her to put in an appearance despite the castle's spectacular appearance.

"The open-air stage was depreciated, there werenot enough parking places and the castle was poorly illuminated. Norwere there any tourist services offering activities and therewas no compact information system presenting the castle," addedHankov.

The project had to tackle all those problems inorder to increase the number of tourists visiting the city, to extendtheir visiting time and stimulate entrepreneurship in the region. Asof today, guests visiting Haapsalu will find a fully maintained castlearea where it is comfortable to look around and where a lot of excitingactivities can be found.

In order to improve the infrastructure of thecastle, the dilapidated open-air stage was reconstructed, a car park was created and security systems and lighting installed, and the wall area and themoat were tidied up. With a view to offering activities,medieval attractions may not be the most original things but always play well with the visiting hordes. A handicraft workshop, abow-track and a giant, interactive chessboard werealso built.

An interactive website in Estonian and English onthe castle was created (www.haapsalulinnus.ee), information signs and stands wereinstalled and an audio guide service was launched for betterinformation.

The total cost of the project was EEK 17.1m of which MEEK13.7 was support from the Regional Competitiveness ImprovementProgramme of Enterprise Estonia, which is co-funded by the EuropeanRegional Development Fund.

The objective of the Regional CompetitivenessImprovement Programme is to make different regions more attractive for businesses, investors, skilled workers and visitors. Localgovernments and non-profit associations may apply for aid for theimplementation of projects aimed at promoting the local tourismindustry and recreational management.

Applications for the developmentof visiting centres, hiking tracks, study trails and small ports, forexhibiting natural values and developing the supporting infrastructureof tourist sites are particularly welcome, Enterprise Estonia says.

Using the support from the programme,local governments can also develop the infrastructure of the localbusiness environment, for example to build access roads, renovate sewage systemsand reutilise former military, industrial or agricultural sites.