The municipality of Meppel wants to help the swimming pool out with almost €100,000 per year, until the new swimming pool is put into use. The management of Bad Hesselingen has requested this because the pool is experiencing a ‘structural and increasing shortage’.
The municipality owns the building, but the daily management is done by the swimming pool itself, in the form of a foundation. The municipality does provide an annual subsidy for managing the swimming pool. But according to swimming pool director Edwin Koelink, that is no longer enough to keep their heads above water.
“In 2015, the municipality reduced the subsidy by 100,000 euros per year,” he writes in a letter to local politicians. “For the period up to and including 2025, this means approximately one million euros less subsidy, while the costs for energy, personnel, maintenance and rent have risen sharply.”
Koelink points out that the swimming pool has since tried to gain new sources of income and control costs. For example, a climbing park has been built, but it has already been closed because it turned out to be loss-making.
And he writes that a long series of ‘efficiency and austerity measures’ have been taken. “These choices have not solved the problem and in some cases even added additional risks.”
The director therefore concludes that the ‘stretch has run out’ and warns that closing the outdoor pool is a serious option. “An unpopular measure that we would rather not take with the prospect of new construction.”
The municipality would rather not see that and therefore wants to help the swimming pool financially. This year it will be 98,000 euros, and from next year it will be 90,000 euros annually. “The swimming pool is an important facility for our residents. Now that we have opted for new construction, we want to ensure that Bad Hesselingen remains safe, accessible and attractive in the meantime,” says councilor Klaas de Vries (Sterk Meppel). The municipality’s ambition is that the new swimming pool will be ready in 2029.
“In recent years we have done everything within our power to keep operations healthy,” Koelink responds. “We are pleased that the municipality of Meppel is taking responsibility with us to keep this important facility afloat until the new construction is completed.”
Local politicians still have to agree to the financial support. This will probably happen next month.