Closure of the Blumenthal outdoor pool: Vegesack is planning a new swimming pool!

Closure of the Blumenthal outdoor pool: Vegesack is planning a new swimming pool!

In Bremen, the 2035 pool concept is causing heated discussions. The regional committee recently discussed the plans, which include, among other things, the closure of the Blumenthal outdoor swimming pool. Instead of the popular outdoor swimming pool, a new indoor and outdoor swimming pool is to be built in Vegesack. This decision has already caused numerous reactions among local politicians, who agree that it would make sense to preserve the Blumenthal swimming pool.

The discussion about the closure was initiated by State Councilor for Sports Olaf Bull (SPD), who invited representatives from all North Bremen district parliaments to an exchange in the town hall. Around 12 people, including advisory board speakers, deputies, local office managers and two representatives of the swimming pool company, were present and had a constructive debate about the future swimming offers in the north of Bremen. The meeting lasted about an hour and a half, but the lack of clarity about the impact of the pool concept remains.

The arguments for and against the closure

Ingo Schiphorst from “Voice Vegesacks” criticized the recommendation as a wrong decision and emphasized that the identified needs were exceeded by more than 100 percent. He also expressed concerns about the economy and budget situation. Whether such a large project is actually sustainable remains questionable. The closure of the Blumenthaler outdoor pool is also further complicated by increasing subsidy requirements, which have risen from 469,000 euros in 2023 to 609,000 euros in 2024.

The sports authority has also determined that maintaining the Blumenthaler outdoor swimming pool represents an economic challenge, even if closure is not planned to take place immediately. It could be years before the new Vegesacker indoor pool is ready for use, and until then the outdoor pool will continue to operate, although there is speculation it will close in the coming years.

A broader context: swimming pools in Germany

The topic of bathrooms is not only important locally. According to a report by the Bäderallianz Deutschland, many swimming pools in Germany are dilapidated. On July 3rd, the German Swimming Pool Plan was presented in Hanover, which is intended to serve as a nationwide strategy to improve swimming pool supply. A central concern of this initiative is to ensure that every child in Germany can swim safely by the end of primary school. Currently around 60 percent of children cannot do this.

The plan stipulates that every primary school must have a swimming pool within easy reach and that cooperation between schools and sports clubs should be expanded. These measures are necessary because hundreds of swimming pools have been closed and many of the remaining facilities are in need of renovation.

The next meeting of the regional committee, in which the debate about the pool concept will also continue, will take place on Tuesday, September 2nd, at 6:30 p.m. in the Vegesack local office. It remains exciting to see how political decision-makers want to shape the challenges and future of swimming pools in Bremen. The questions surrounding the preservation of the Blumenthal swimming pool and the new building in Vegesack are just one facet of a complex issue that affects the entire region.

das-blv.de reports that the 2035 swimming pool concept not only causes costly discussions, but could also have major consequences for swimming offerings in the region. Weser courier emphasizes that the debate about swimming pools in Bremen is not only important locally, but throughout Germany verbandsbuero.de presented in detail.