2023-07-10 17:00:00
Opened on Saturday August 4, 2018, following more than two years of construction (for an amount, at the time, attributed to 8.9 million euros excluding equipment), the Eupen swimming pool, located in Hütte, was heavily impacted by the floods of July 14, 2021. La Helle devastated the Lago Wetzlarbad complex and, at the time, the manager doubted a reopening before “a few months”. A year later, the cleaning phase was “almost closed” and the manager was still hoping for an opening in the summer of 2023. This will obviously not be the case… and even 2024 is illusory. “We had a lot of discussions with the insurance companies, the concessionaire (the private sector, etc.) and we encountered many problems. But we did not do a bad job, in the end. We appointed an external counter-expert to underline our requests vis-à-vis -à-vis insurance and we have prepared specifications. The problem is that some companies have never applied. As a result, we had to redo the specifications”retraces Claudia Niessen, mayor of Eupen.
The City hopes to designate companies in the coming weeks to begin the renovation project “within a few months”. “In this triangle between the insurance, the Commune and the one who received the long lease (NDLR: Wetzlarbad AG) , we encountered real administrative problems. Finding the right solutions was not that easy. In the meantime, we have re-examined the energy efficiency of the swimming pool by developing a new concept to have a more energy-efficient swimming pool (with, among other things, photovoltaic panels). It won’t just be a renovation. It’s a big shortcut to a long and complicated affair”she admits.
The Eupen swimming pool in August 2021… ©EdA LABEYE Philippe
The compensation obtained following the floods will not cover the cost of the works. And the mayor refuses to come forward on possible delays. “I have always been very cautious regarding dates. From experience and following everything we have experienced with insurers, but also given the availability of companies and certain shortages on the market, I cannot give a date (nor even a year of opening). Especially since we may find new damage when we start the construction site. We have already experienced so much…”
In the spring of 2025?
Became alderwoman for Sports for the City of Eupen on January 23, replacing Werner Baumgarten, Alexandra Barth-Vandenhirtz also heads the Tilia autonomous municipal authority. It confirms the interest of a counter-expert to obtain more assurances, as well as the new energy measures which have led to a new round of negotiations with the companies. “The Wetzlarbad group is currently looking at the offers from the companies in order to set the amounts. We hope for an award at the end of August. As far as the green spaces are concerned, it will go faster because they will be carried out by the City services. d’Eupen. We would start in the course of September.”
If no opening date is put forward by the alderman (it might be the end of 2024 if no problem is encountered, a bet that no one dares to take at the City of Eupen), spring 2025 is already ticked on his agenda… and it differs from that of the dealer.
Indeed, the East regional manager for Lago is more optimistic. “We are in the process of finalizing the analysis of the contractors’ offers, we hope to award the lots as soon as possible and start the work as soon as possible. There is a lot to redo, especially in terms of technical installations. We are aiming for a reopening in a year, in the summer of 2024.” Ambitious.
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