The Allach summer pool was never a spectacular attraction. But the people in the west of Munich loved their refreshing oasis – especially when a local club ran it on their own for a few years. The fact that it was closed in 2009 to make way for a renatured green space with a playground and sports facilities still hurts many people to this day. Demands for a new bathroom were therefore repeatedly loud. However, for years without success.
But now new hope is emerging. “We have never been as far as we are now,” says Pascal Fuckerieder (SPD), head of the local district committee. In a draft resolution for the city council’s economic committee, the “need for additional swimming pools is seen for the first time, especially in densely populated city districts or in city districts with a high planned influx of people.”
The population of Allach-Untermenzing will grow by more than 30 percent by 2040 due to numerous new development areas. And neighboring Moosach also increased its current population by more than a quarter during this time.
A new district sports facility on Ludwigsfelder Straße in the catchment area of both districts is already being planned and will be included in the next sports construction program. It is possible that a new public pool will be built there. According to the municipal utilities, an indoor pool that can be used all year round requires an area of 6,000 to 10,000 square meters, an outdoor pool three times as much. But nothing is certain so far: First of all, it should be examined what synergies could arise from the immediate proximity of the district sports facility and swimming pool.
The economics officer points to the increasing deficit if pools are added
Financing is also open. “The current admission prices for the M-Badders are far from covering their costs,” says economics officer Clemens Baumgärtner. If one wanted to maintain this price level in the interests of public welfare, “every additional bathroom would mean a further deficit of around two to three million euros per year of operation for the municipal utilities and thus for the municipal corporation, which would have to provide the funds for the construction.”
Citizen representative Pascal Fuckerieder is not deterred by these numbers, he thinks positively. “I hope,” said the head of the Allach-Untermenzing district committee, “that our city council, together with the treasurer, will find a way to finance a new swimming pool.”