The reconstruction of the swimming pool in Liberec will likely cost over 600 million CZK

The renovation of the municipal swimming pool from the mid-80s, with an extension from 2012, should begin in 2020. Externally, the stadium looks good, but the air conditioning, roof, and facade are in critical condition. Repairs on the decaying load-bearing structures, electrical installations, and water and sewage systems are also necessary. Cracks are also present in the body of the fifty-meter pool and in the walls of the wild river pool. The city hall expected the repair costs to be between 350 and 400 million crowns. "Now we are at 620 million crowns," the mayor stated. One of the reasons for the increase, according to him, is the prices of modern technologies. "And this is also due to the labor market. There are so many contracts that the average prices of construction work are rising dramatically," he said.

However, he believes that the reconstruction is still more worthwhile than building a new stadium. "Construction from scratch would cost 1.1 billion crowns, which is still almost double. Moreover, we would end up with a brownfield here. This option is highly unlikely, and I wouldn't prefer it," Batthyány stated.

According to him, the swimming stadium is valuable for its fifty-meter pool. "There aren't many of those in the republic," he said. He also noted that the Liberec pool has a different character than most pools built in cities today. "It serves a sports-relaxation purpose; it's not a water park type of pool," he added. There is also a water park in the city of 100,000 inhabitants, but it belongs to a private company. It is located in the Babylon Center.

The Liberec swimming stadium is visited by approximately 350,000 people each year. It includes three pools, two toboggans, whirlpools, a slide, saunas, a Kneipp pathway, and other attractions. The city expects that the pool will be closed for a maximum of a year and a half due to the reconstruction.