More than half of all public swimming pools in Bavaria are in need of renovation. This emerges from a request from the state parliament Greens to the state government. According to this, 223 of the 867 public swimming pools are “in urgent need of renovation”, as the answer to the question put by MP Johannes Becher to the Ministry for Housing, Construction and Transport led by Christian Bernreiter (CSU) says.
The Ministry’s query in the cities and municipalities also revealed that the costs for renovations have accumulated to 1.78 billion euros. In addition to investments in swimming facilities, this also includes investments in gastronomic offerings. In a query in 2018, the costs were still around 1.2 billion euros.
In 2019, the state government decided on a funding program to support the municipalities in the renovation and maintenance of their pools. Spread over six years, it is making a total of 120 million euros available for this purpose.
Funding program only “a famous drop in the bucket”
Johannes Becher, spokesman for the Greens for municipal issues, calls the sum the “famous drop in the ocean”. He finds it “absurd that the Söder government dismisses every proposal with reference to the funding program”. Becher also renewed the demand of the Greens for 50 instead of 20 million euros per year for the renovation of the pools. “But even that won’t be enough given the new numbers.”
Against the background of 15 public pools that have been closed since 2019, Becher also points to figures from the German Life Saving Society (DLRG). According to these, in 2021 no federal state drowned more people than Bavaria. According to the DLRG, 60 people died during this period, a fifth of those who drowned nationwide. That’s “a sad record,” says Becher. The ability to swim in children and young people has been declining for years, and learning to swim is vital. “We have to help the municipalities to rehabilitate their swimming pools. Any further hesitation makes the situation worse.”
Thomas Huber, chairman of the Bavarian water rescue service and member of the CSU state parliament, also observed a “declining availability of swimming lanes”. The high need for renovation has just as negative effects as the pandemic and the canceled school swimming. There is therefore an “urgent need for action” on the children’s ability to swim. That is why it is now important to “set the course for remedying the dying spas”. Huber refers to the state government’s 2019 funding program and expects the municipalities to “access these funds and invest them promptly in the interests of buoyancy”.
Most public baths are “high deficit”
An example from the Allgäu shows that the funds are not always sufficient. In the Seltmans outdoor pool in Weitnau, chlorine water is constantly seeping into the ground – the need for rehabilitation is obvious. However, the bath is threatened with permanent closure, because even if subsidies were used, the market community would have to raise a good 1.5 million euros itself. “Unfortunately, we can’t do that,” said Mayor Florian Schmid recently, according to a report on the Weitnau website.
Uwe Brandl, CSU mayor of the city of Abensberg (Kelheim district) and chairman of the Bavarian community council, emphasizes that “most public pools are extremely deficit”. Reorganization is only possible if appropriate support services are available from the state. Of course, he has to prioritize his spending. Even if he, Brandl, understands that “you don’t go to the extreme” and that the municipalities also have a responsibility, the general question is: “Isn’t it a state task to ensure that certain basic facilities that serve health or learning to swim, are in place?”