After almost three years, work on the Lourdes grotto in Wildsteig is on the home stretch.
The jetty is currently being built - differently than planned.
Wildsteig
- Almost every stone has been tackled, the Madonna shines in new splendor, the paths are paved: the restoration of the Lourdes grotto in Wildsteig is on the home straight.
In September, the work will be ceremoniously completed (see below).
Then a footbridge will lead to the historic pilgrimage site.
He should make the grotto more attractive and easier to reach.
It also forms the last connection for a circular route around the church and cemetery.
However, the footbridge that will lead along the slope below the church will look different than originally planned.
The reason for the change that has arisen this year: dear money.
Because the municipality of Wildsteig does not get the promised funding after all.
"We are very disappointed with the Office for Rural Development," says Mayor Josef Taffertshofer.
The jetty has been on the agenda since 2011.
And yet the authorities have still not been able to give a firm commitment to the funding.
Funding didn't work
"There must be a draft plan," says Roswitha Karger, project manager for rural and village development at the ALE, who confirms that the footbridge has been an issue for years.
But the planning that the municipality presented at the beginning of the year was not detailed enough.
The next one came too late.
“We could no longer promise funding for this year.
The funds have to be available to us right now," explains Karger - and there are many applications for funding.
Funding would have been possible next year.
"It's not entirely our fault," she says, and also praises the community: "It's going very well out there.
The solution that has now been found is certainly not the worst.”
That should hardly console Taffertshofer.
He sees the justification of the ALE as a "lazy excuse".
The office gets caught up in “too much bureaucracy”.
Waiting for next year was not an option for him and the local council.
"We want to have the jetty ready together with the grotto," says Taffertshofer.
Once the restoration is complete and the builders have cleaned everything up, "the jetty may never come."
And so site manager Stefan Herterich presented a slimmed-down version.
Instead of the original 220,000 euros, it will probably only cost 100,000 euros, says Taffertshofer.
The original walkway, which a landscape architect was also involved in planning, would have included twelve foundations, a large landing, railings on both sides and an expensive stainless steel net to protect against falls.
In order to save costs, Herterich suggested leaning the footbridge against the slope so that a railing and only three foundations are required on one side only.
In addition, there will be a stainless steel cable protection instead of the net.
New plan is well received
The idea was not only well received by the municipal council, which unanimously gave its blessing.
According to Taffertshofer, Herterich's suggestion was even preferred by the monument protection authority "because the footbridge is more delicate".
However, the municipality would not have succeeded in achieving complete barrier-free access for either of the two walkway variants.
The path should only have a maximum gradient of six percent.
According to Taffertshofer, this requirement cannot be met on the site at hand.
"We get up to 6.4 percent."
The construction has already started.
The foundations for the footbridge were set.
The terrain is also modeled.
The bridge should be up in August.
The work on the grotto itself has also been completed so far.
The budget of around 600,000 euros "was adhered to", says Taffertshofer, thanks above all to site manager Herterich.
"It's a godsend for the community," praises the mayor.
The man from Wurmansauer combines “enormous specialist knowledge with responsible use of financial resources”.
The inauguration: This is planned
The community of Wildsteig is celebrating the fact that the Lourdes grotto has now been restored over several days.
The festivities are organized by Max Bertl.
"Among other things, he proved at our 900-year celebration that he can put on great festivals," says Mayor Josef Taffertshofer.
Thursday, September 15:
From 8 p.m. Festival of Lights at the Grotto with classical music and texts by Pastor Josef Fegg.
Saturday, September 17th:
An evening of lectures begins at 8 p.m. in the community hall, during which there is a lot to be learned about the grotto and the restoration.
The event is accompanied by Wildsteiger music groups.
Sunday, September 18th:
10 a.m. service with Auxiliary Bishop Wolfgang Bischof, there will be flag delegations on site, and the church choirs from Wildsteig and Böbing will sing together.
At 11 a.m. is the inauguration of the grotto.
In this context, reverse glass pictures of communion children from the parish association are consecrated, which may be placed in the grotto as a votive offering.
The community then invites everyone who has contributed to the restoration - whether financially, technically or in some other way - to lunch together in the community hall.
