The large community should have a very special fun pool – the guests should not be entertained with water slides, diving towers and wave machines, but with cultural events. Specifically, the plan was to convert the former school swimming pool, which had been empty for around three years, into a hall for concerts, for example. Now the responsible committee of the municipal council has pulled the plug: the old swimming pool on Gluckstrasse will not be renovated. This, according to the unanimous decision, would be too expensive.
Because actually, according to the test order decided by the finance committee in September, the aim was to get an event hall, albeit a simple one, for as little money as possible. After all, it is an old problem in Vaterstetten that due to the chronically tight finances, the construction of an appropriate event location, which has been planned several times, could never be implemented.
Originally, they had expected almost 10,000 euros – now it should be around 70,000
The CSU had therefore applied in the fall to convert the bathroom into a hall using simple means. This would also only be usable in the summer months, because the installation of a heating system was not planned from the start. In addition, the days of the building, which also houses the gymnasium of the former elementary and middle school, are numbered: in a few years, the site is to be redeveloped with a residential area. The old indoor pool had already proven its suitability as a cultural hall at the beginning of 2021, when the municipality organized a series of concerts there – but not in front of an audience. The concerts were broadcast online because of the Corona requirements in force at the time.
At the time, artists and critics alike praised the unusual venue, saying the applicants at the time said it was possible to build on this success. And the first calculations were quite promising: According to this, all that is needed is fall protection, i.e. a railing around the pool, which can be had for around 8000 euros. In addition, a renovation of the toilets is necessary, the costs for this were estimated in the application at around 2500 euros.
The railing at the edge of the pool alone would be six times as expensive as initially thought
However, a more precise calculation has now shown that this calculation does not add up. As Mayor Leonhard Spitzauer (CSU) now explained in the committee, the crash barrier alone would be more than six times as expensive as expected: this construction would cost around 50,000 euros. Escape stairs would also have to be installed in the swimming pool – costs: 10,000 euros – and non-slip mats would have to be laid over the tiles, which would cost another around 11,250 euros. Appropriate funds have not yet been provided for in the budget, and given the budgetary situation, the administration has not recommended setting any and canceling the swimming pool conversion.
The committee members followed the proposal without dissenting votes, the only contribution to the speech came from Christl Mitterer (CSU), the culture officer of the municipal council. The fact that the indoor pool will not be rebuilt in view of the expected costs is of course reasonable – but also “very sad”. In itself, the conversion of the old swimming pool is “a super good idea” – which just involves more effort and costs than planned.
Mitterer didn’t want to completely give up hope of a conversion: “Maybe there will be someone who would like to donate to it.” Potential sponsors for a cultural indoor pool could contact the municipality at any time.