The plan for the renovation was devised three years ago and renovations have now been going on continuously for two years, with the exception of the swimming season. In the freezing cold or when it is 29 degrees, the work continues and almost everything is done by volunteers. “We simply don’t have the money to hire everything,” Kolker said. “We have a group of about twelve volunteers that are here every Saturday, but in total there are about 150.”
The result of the hard work is a modern swimming pool. With light poles and speakers next to the pool, there is the opportunity for activities in the evenings. The heating is controlled via heat pumps and not gas. There are solar panels on the roof that come from the old swimming pool in Klazienaveen. The entire playground was renovated through crowdfunding and the showers were “finally” provided with hot water.
We will continue to work hard next week so that the swimming pool can open on Sunday, June 7. Will everything work out on time? “I think that will be fine,” says Klaas Niers after he throws some stones into a wheelbarrow. “We have agreed that some things simply won’t be finished yet, but next year we will celebrate our 60th anniversary and then we will have everything finished. Then we can show everything to everyone with even more pride.”