Niederkrüchten outdoor swimming pool
| Niederkrüchten outdoor swimming pool | |
|---|---|
 Pool and diving platform 2017 |
|
| Data | |
| place |
 Germany
|
| architect | Josef Viethen Sr. (Erkelenz) |
| Client | Niederkrüchten community |
| Construction year | 1967 (opening) |
| Floor space | approx. 12,000 m² |
| Coordinates | 51 ° 11 '58.6 " N , 6 ° 13' 19.3" E |
| particularities | |
Heated pool (22 ° C) as well
|
|
The Freibad Niederkrüchten is a public swimming pool in the left bank of the Rhine in Niederkrüchten in the west of North Rhine-Westphalia directly in front of the Dutch border. The swimming pool is located in the Niederkrüchten district. In addition to the pool, the community still operates the indoor pool Elmpt in the district Elmpt . From the summer of 2018, the council and administration did not reopen it due to excessive repair costs (around € 185,000). A decision on a reopening / refurbishment is still pending (as of April 2019).
location
The Niederkrüchten outdoor swimming pool is centrally located, west of the eponymous district of Niederkrüchten, in the south of the community. Directly adjacent to the pool is the Niederkrüchten soccer and sports facility , as well as the volunteer fire brigade and the local police station .
The school center with secondary school and soon the primary school (move planned for 2020) are within walking distance. There is also a good connection to the public transport network with six bus lines at the Lindbruchplatz bus stop and other bus connections at the school center's bus station. The outdoor pool is also very easy to reach by private transport. Both bicycle parking spaces and a large parking lot with currently 112 designated parking spaces, as well as various smaller parking spaces in the immediate vicinity of the pool, are available for this purpose.
In the summer months from 2010 to 2016, the pool was visited by an average of around 23,000 people. In the outstanding summer of 2010 there were even around 33,000 visitors.
Equipment and service
The pool, heated to approx. 22 ° C, has approx. 1,300 square meters of water surface, which extends onto a large 50-meter pool with eight lanes and a small slide with two one-, two three- and one five-meter diving boards for swimmers in the non-swimmer area and a paddling pool for small children. The sunbathing lawns cover around 7,500 square meters and also offer areas for lawn sports and a beach volleyball field . The toddler pool is equipped with a small slide and parasols for bathing fun even outside of direct sunlight. There are also changing rooms, showers (cold), toilets, a table tennis table and a kiosk or snack bar with seating. In addition to drinks, ice cream and sweets, the snack bar also offers warm drinks and simple warm meals. The entrance fees are moderate to cheap. For the (if you want) daily summer fun for children and adults, an inexpensive season ticket is also available.
history
The opening of the Niederkrüchten outdoor pool took place on May 20, 1967. For many years, the Niederkrüchten outdoor pool has been a magnet for visitors with a large catchment area from Mönchengladbach, Neuss, Erkelenz, Wegberg and the surrounding communities of Schwalmtal and Brüggen. The number of visitors fell over this long period, but the outdoor pool remained the only landmark and distinguishing feature of the community and the Niederkrüchten district and a popular social meeting place.
As early as 1997, at the 30th anniversary, the continuously increasing renovation backlog of the outdoor pool was noticeable. However, only unavoidable repairs were carried out, although renovation plans were already being discussed at this time.
In 2017, the outdoor pool celebrated its 50th anniversary on May 21, together with the DLRG local group Niederkrüchten, which was founded in the same year . This anniversary was celebrated here with the mayor , guests of honor and representatives of the administration and all parties as well as the support association Niederkrüchtener Bäder in the best weather.
In 2018 the council of the community of Niederkrüchten decided not to open the swimming pool anymore due to the necessary repair costs of around 185,000 euros.
Petition to save the outdoor swimming pool in summer 2018
The closure of the outdoor pool caused resentment and incomprehension among the citizens concerned, as an inter-communal indoor pool with a sauna area was planned for more than € 21 million at the same time. This led to the start of a civil petition on June 28, 2018 to save the Niederkrüchten outdoor pool. The result of the petition was very successful with over 6,000 signatures and showed that the citizens do not want to give up their outdoor swimming pool without a fight.
On September 10, 2018, the signature lists were handed over to the mayor and council of the Niederkrüchten community. Since the municipality and the council are still in talks with the neighboring municipality of Brüggen about the construction of an inter-municipal pool, a decision to maintain and / or convert the outdoor pool into a combined pool is still pending (as of March 2019).
The signatures for the preservation of the open-air pool have shown that it is important to the Niederkrüchten citizens to preserve "their open-air swimming pool" as an important leisure facility and make it fit for the future. This is also supported by the numerous comments by the signatories on the petition page.
Catchment area
Due to its central location, the bath in Niederkrüchten is of course particularly popular in the municipality itself, but also in neighboring municipalities such as Schwalmtal , Wegberg and Brüggen and easily accessible by public transport. The nearest open-air swimming pool, which cannot be reached by public transport, is located in Swalmen, near the Dutch border, more than 16 km from the Niederkrüchten open-air swimming pool. The closest outdoor swimming pools on the German side in Kirchhoven and Mönchengladbach ( Volksbad Mönchengladbach ) are even more than 25 km away and are therefore very difficult to reach promptly (1 to 2 hours travel time per route by public transport) and inexpensively for children and young people from the community (source: Google Maps ).
Others
Controversy about continued operation
The Niederkrüchten outdoor pool has not been opened since summer 2018 due to excessive maintenance costs. At the same time, the administration is planning an inter-municipal indoor / sauna / leisure pool with Brüggen for more than 21 million euros with the neighboring municipality of Brüggen.
DLRG local group Niederkrüchten
The local DLRG branch in Niederkrüchten was founded in 1967 when the open-air swimming pool was opened. In 2017 this 50 year "double anniversary" was celebrated.
Web links
- Niederkrüchten community: Information on the current swimming pool situation
- Niederkrüchten outdoor pool on Google Maps
- DLRG local group Niederkrüchten
- Outdoor pool petition 2018 on openPetition.de
- Blog page of the initiators of the outdoor pool petition
Individual evidence
- ↑ RP-Online 2018: A summer without outdoor pool fun
- ↑ Welcome to www.niederkruechten.de: Niederkrüchten community. Retrieved May 2, 2019 .
- ↑ Fee tariff for baths as of January 1, 2019
- ^ Youtube video for the opening of the outdoor pool on May 20, 1967
- ↑ The Niederkrüchten outdoor pool in the social space analysis of the district of Viersen from 2013 (from PDF page 69)
- ↑ RP-Online 2017: Bathroom renovation costs millions
- ↑ 50th anniversary on the side of the community Niederkrüchten
- ↑ Homepage of the Friends of Niederkrüchtener Bäder eV
- ↑ Extra tip Viersen: No outdoor pool in summer
- ↑ 2018: Petition: Save the outdoor pool in Niederkrüchten
- ^ City of Spiegel Viersen 2018: Handover of the petition 6,000 signatures
- ↑ 2018: Petition: Comments from the signatories
- ↑ RP-Online 2018: An outdoor pool without summer fun
- ↑ A swimming pool for the Brimges site?
- ↑ Community information : 50 years of the open-air swimming pool and the local DLRG branch in Niederkrüchten