About five years ago, the Commission for Culture, Society, and Social Affairs in Egerkingen developed new ideas on how to make good use of visitor taxes for the community. They started with various greening projects and the planting of standard trees, followed by infrastructure projects such as an open bookcase and, last year, the new Kneipp facility on Rauberplatz. Finally, in recent months, the "Santel" fitness trail was built. This was no easy undertaking given today's regulations, as it was to be built outside the building zone.
Planning for the fitness trail began in 2019 with a request for support from Zurich Insurance, which is responsible for such facilities throughout Switzerland. As the title sponsor, it provided the financial resources for signage and directional materials. Once approval had been granted, a suitable route was evaluated with the forestry commission, the civic community, and the cantonal forester, with a special focus on minimizing interference with the forest. The civic community's request that the Vitaparcours route not pass through the "Santel" crossroads, but merely cross it, was also taken into account.
It took over a year before the building application could finally be submitted to the municipality of Egerkingen. It was quickly approved and forwarded to the canton. Then it was a case of waiting, waiting, and waiting some more. Four months later, the decision came – rejected – the permit could not be granted, various additions and changes were still required. For example, the route at the end of the course had to be adjusted again. After a lot of patience and the blessing of five authorities, we finally received approval for the construction of a "Santel" fitness trail in January 2022.
Now things moved quickly. We already had the plans, the equipment had been ordered, and in mid-April 2022, we were able to start construction. The Vogel construction company provided us with their machines and one or two workers, while the municipal works department laid the new paths and transported the wood chips. As soon as the equipment was installed and the paths were laid, the "Aktives Alter" Egerkingen association took care of designing the course with Berg-Grien or wood chips and built the stairs and railings.
We would like to express our sincere thanks to everyone involved for their active support! Not least to the local community and Egerkingen Tourism for their financial support, the civic community and the local community for the use of the land, and the Mövenpick Hotel for providing free parking for users of the fitness trail.
We hope to welcome you to the new fitness trail in Egerkingen and wish you lots of fun in nature.
