That's a bargain for the city.

This is what many citizens and local politicians thought when the city of Idstein acquired the insolvent Tournesol leisure pool two years ago through a municipal sports and leisure facility company that it had founded.

Because the privately financed construction of the fun pool with its dome, which can be opened in good weather, devoured almost 30 million euros in 2009.

Just ten years later, Idstein paid the Tiroler Oberbank, as the creditor of the insolvent investors and operators, around 4.5 million euros for the building on Weldertstrasse.

Oliver Bock

Correspondent for the Rhein-Main-Zeitung for the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis and for Wiesbaden.

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    However, at this point it was already clear that the comparatively young bathroom was in need of renovation and that construction defects had to be eliminated.

    At the time of purchase, a large cost estimate of a good ten million euros was on the table.

    The specially prepared master plan of a Berlin engineering office was based on net construction costs of eight million euros in July last year.

    That was also the intermediate result in January of this year.

    Refurbishment for 16.2 million euros

    But that was far from the end of the story. A more in-depth inventory revealed further “massive deficiencies” and “original bad planning”. The horror scenario of structural damage in the concrete ceilings did not occur. However, instead of 1.4 million euros, around 3.5 million euros have to be invested in energy, house and swimming pool technology. In December 2020, TÜV inspectors had found “additional, significant defects”, according to the project report on the renovation. Including a financing buffer, the renovation has now been estimated at a gross price of 16.2 million euros. Because the company could not borrow this money or only at higher costs, the city wants to commit itself to a guarantee of 16.5 million euros to the banks.

    The catalog of what, according to the engineers and planners, has to be done inevitably is long. Ventilation devices have to be replaced as well as heat pumps and gas boilers. Buffer storage tanks no longer meet today's requirements. The combined heat and power plant is too small, the hot water supply and preparation no longer meets the hygienic requirements. The bathroom also does not meet the requirements of the workplace guidelines for staff, which is why their lounges and break rooms have to be expanded. There will be no more childcare in the future because the space is needed as an office. The checkout area will be reduced and the catering, which is also accessible to guests from outside, will be given up in favor of a bistro and self-service counter reserved for bathers.

    Planners promise barrier-free "seasonal parcours"

    The children's pool area will be fundamentally redesigned, as will the changing room.

    There, the routing and visitor guidance are to be reorganized and the number of lockers increased by 60 to 458.

    New showers and toilets have to be installed.

    This also applies to the sauna area, where the Kneipp pool is being dismantled.

    Instead, there should be single foot basins that are placed so that users have a clear view of the garden.

    An ice fountain and a cold plunge pool with a waterfall are also planned there.

    The planners promise a barrier-free “seasonal course” with “shower attractions”.

    The entrance zone is also to be rebuilt in order to announce a pleasant and eventful stay to the visitor with an "inviting gesture" before entering. The renovation should start in September and be completed in December 2022. Further cost risks in the course of the renovation cannot be ruled out.

    Another dry spell awaits the more than 300,000 swimmers annually, who come from a radius of around 30 kilometers and who have only been allowed to go into the outdoor pool since the end of last week, and further losses in sales await the operators.

    The year 2020 had started very well and exceeded expectations, before the 110 employees were almost without exception put on short-time work in mid-March due to Corona and the bathroom was put into "energetic idle mode".

    Between the beginning of July and the end of October there was always an average of 672 bathers per day, but that was 30 percent less than in the second half of 2019.

    It is the turn of politics

    Now it is the turn of politicians to decide on the restructuring guarantee on Thursday. It also has a non-binding forecast according to which the city will have to grant its subsidiary a subsidy of 4.3 million euros in the renovation year 2022 and 2.7 million euros (2023) and 2.5 million euros (2024) in the following years. Originally, the city wanted to fund less than a million a year. The subsidiary has to spend 1.4 million euros annually for interest and repayment of its loans totaling more than 20.5 million euros with terms of 15 and 20 years.

    Nevertheless, a political majority for the redevelopment is foreseeable so far. Not only Mayor Christian Herfurth (CDU) and the CDU, also the FWG and the SPD see no other option. The refurbishment "is the best and ultimately the most cost-effective option," says FWG parliamentary group leader Andreas Ott. A closure would be even more expensive for Idstein. Even the SPD parliamentary group leader Marius Weiß does not believe in a shutdown or the "unrealistic" proposal to dismantle a swimming pool only. It is annoying that the renovation phase could not be put into the pandemic period because of the tendering deadlines that had to be adhered to. But he hoped to at least be able to keep the outdoor pool open during the construction phase.