FIVE OF Lisbon’s 13 municipal swimming pools will remain closed for an indefinite period.
The pools at Alvito in Alcântara, Areeiro in Avenida da Roma, Baptista Pereira in Avenida de Ceuta, also in Alcântara, Olivais and Campo Grande have all been shut for months, and even years in some cases, because the Câmara lacks the cash to keep them running.
This despite the fact that an estimated 750,000 members of the public, including schools, use the city’s pools every year.
“The pools at Olivais, Campo Grande, and Areeiro are shut because the heating and filtration equipment is very old and it was “very costly to keep them running or install new equipment,” said Rita Magrinho, a Lisbon Câmara officer.
New laws
The other problem according to the Câmara’s Municipal Sports Department is that new EU regulations mean that existing conditions do not satisfy legal requirements.
The President of the Olivais parish, José Godinho, believes that its 25-metre swimming pool could “at best open next summer” and that the pool is “good but the changing and shower rooms have been vandalized.”
Rita Magrinho, also explained that the pool was inaugurated in 2000 and was “in a reasonable condition when it was closed.”
She confirmed that the authority had received a 60,000 signature petition calling for the pool to be reopened but that she didn’t know all the facts pertaining to the present situation, saying simply that there were plans to do up the changing facilities.
With regards to Olivais pool she explained that there was “a project to have the pool restored and up and running” but couldn’t say when since it had yet to be approved.
Lisbon’s Municipal Services has made assurances that they are planning to launch an international competitive tendering bid to have the pools modernized and refurbished and that starting from 2009 the city’s in-operational pools will begin to be reopened.
Original features
Lisbon Câmara has assured that the refurbishment works will protect the architectural characteristics of the structures despite the pools being brought up to date and having the latest technology and equipment installed.
“For example the swimming pools at Campo Grande and Areeiro, built in the 1950s, will retain their original post war Estado Novo façades,” said Rita Magrinho, adding that given the Câmara’s current financial problems she couldn’t understand why it hadn’t “used projects and studies already carried out.”
Among the pools that are open in Lisbon at the present time are Casal Vistoso in Alfama, Ameixoeira, Campo de Ourique, Oriente, Penha de França, Rego, Restelo, and Vale de Fundão.
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