Swimming lessons City of Zurich wants to set up a school swimming pool in the old EWZ boiler house
The city of Zurich wants to build an indoor swimming pool for schools in the once occupied boiler house of the power station on the Limmat: The municipal council approved a project planning credit of 2.5 million Swiss francs on Wednesday evening.
26.06.2024, 20:27
SDA
The loan received a clear majority with 87 votes in favor and 25 against. Only the Greens and AL opposed the city council's plans. Urs Riklin (Greens) called for the Kesselhaus to be put to public use in view of the existing space problem in the city. He suggested a mixed cultural use or a "non- or low-commercial small business use".
The majority, on the other hand, supported the city council's proposal to renovate the boiler house, which is no longer needed by Zurich's electricity company (EWZ) and is now only used for storage, and to build a school swimming facility in the listed building that can be expanded at a later date. Yasmine Bourgeois (FDP) said that water areas for compulsory swimming lessons were in short supply.
In its proposal, the city council wrote of a "useful life of at least 15 years". This was all too temporary and provisional for a majority of the municipal council, as Ann-Catherine Nabholz (GLP) put it. By 62 votes to 48, the majority added that a "long-term school swimming facility" should be planned.
The school swimming pool should be available for voluntary school sports and clubs outside of school operating hours. The city council is expecting construction costs of around 17 million francs. The boiler house is to be renovated between summer 2027 and fall 2029.
The building was occupied twice in 2022 and 2023. The EWZ had it evacuated by the police for safety reasons due to its poor structural condition and proximity to the Letten power plant.
