Czech Lípa today opened a new swimming pool for 300 million CZK, the season will start on Saturday

Česká Lípa - The new swimming pool, costing nearly 300 million crowns, was officially opened today in Česká Lípa. This costly project next to the natural reservoir in Dubice was funded by the city from its own resources, without subsidies. The facility, which can accommodate 855 people, features a large pool and a children's paddling pool, water attractions, and a slide. The season will kick off on Saturday with an open house. The swimming pool is the largest project in the modern history of the city; the city hall prepared it for five years, said Mayor Jitka Volfová (ANO) to ČTK.

"The city manages its finances well; in the last five years, we have spent 1.175 billion crowns and Česká Lípa has nearly the same amount in its account as we started with, so we can build and develop. In three years, we have saved almost 300 million crowns, around one hundred million each year. This is because we have not increased operational expenditures; we try to manage money effectively," added Volfová. Thanks to this, the city was able to reconstruct the theater for 200 million, plans are underway for the renovation of the listed Kounic House, and a new library is being prepared.

With 37,000 inhabitants, Česká Lípa is the third-largest city in the Liberec Region. There have been several plans for a swimming pool in the city over the past 30 years. Originally, the city hall considered construction in Dubice, but the previous leadership of the city, led by the ČSSD, prepared the construction of a swimming pool next to the Sports Complex in the center. The project, costing around 108 million crowns, was criticized due to its location. The new city leadership, headed by ANO, decided to abandon this plan and return to the original plans in Dubice. Construction began last March.

The pool with attractions was built by a consortium of companies Metrostav DIZ and CL-Evans next to a flooded quarry in the Dubice area of Česká Lípa, where swimming has been prohibited for years due to an overgrowth of cyanobacteria. Cleaning the water has proven difficult. The swimming pool does not use water from Dubice; the pools are supplied with water from their own borehole. Due to its location in a flood zone, builders had to raise the entire area by about a meter above the original level. According to Volfová, they were able to verify last Christmas during heavy rainfall that this was sufficient and the pools are safe from flooding.

The project was prepared by Centroprojekt Group, which has previously collaborated on swimming pools and aquaparks in Pasohlávky, Hradec Králové, as well as in Slovakia in Poprad or in Croatia in Poreč. In the future, the city hall plans to add a caravan parking area, and there are also plans for a solar power plant that will shade the parking lot. A full-day visit to the swimming pool will cost adults 150 crowns in the season, students and seniors 110 crowns, and children under 110 centimeters and disabled visitors 50 crowns. There are discounted family tickets and season passes available.