Písek will build a new swimming pool for 250 million CZK, to be completed in 2019

Písek - The construction of a new swimming pool for 250 million crowns was approved today by the representatives of Písek. This will be the largest municipal investment in recent years. The pool, designed by the Prague studio Projektil Architekti, is expected to open to the public in June 2019. Josef Knot (TOP 09), the deputy mayor of Písek, told ČTK today. The representatives decided on this with a narrow majority of 14 votes out of twenty-seven. The city is also investing this year in a new library and a water treatment plant.

The pool will be built in the area below the forestry school. It will have an indoor section, an outdoor area, and wellness facilities including saltwater. The city aims to obtain a building permit by May this year, with construction expected to start in October.

"The current pool is outdated and needs a basic renovation. We also have a resolution from the referendum; we are fulfilling what the people of Písek wished for in 2013, to build a new pool. Everyone deserves to have a dignified and quality pool suitable for a royal town with 30,000 inhabitants," said Knot.

The city council had already decided in April 2014 that the pool would cost a maximum of 200 million crowns. Recently, the outdoor section and wellness facilities have been added, with the representatives now setting a maximum price of 250 million crowns.

The opposition is concerned that the pool will not be located in the same place as the multi-sport hall, in the eight-hectare area of the former Žižka Barracks. "Písek will not collapse; we just missed an extraordinary opportunity to build a joint facility of the hall and the pool, which would have a clearly regional significance. Instead, we will build something that will be local. And the coalition wants to build for 250 million, which is currently estimated at 300 million, which is a fundamental difference. Its victory may only be a Pyrrhic victory," said the representative and former mayor of Písek, Ondřej Veselý (ČSSD), to ČTK.

The architects designed the pool for a cost of 303 million crowns. According to Knot, the price should drop below 250 million. "When we compete for investment projects, we manage to bid about 30 percent less than the budgeted price," Knot said.

According to him, the city has about 530 million crowns in its accounts. It wants to allocate this for several projects, such as a new library, a water treatment plant, and the pool. Knot suggests that the city take an investment loan for the pool. "Banks can offer us money at 0.3 percent, which is effectively free money. It is advantageous to take it and keep free financial resources for co-financing, for example, grant projects," Knot said.

The old pool in the area below the walls, built in 1983, is expected to undergo repairs costing six million crowns this year. The operational loss of the current pool is 11 million crowns, and its capacity is regularly filled due to high demand.