The public swimming pools in Paris, hit like the others by the explosion in energy prices, will only be closed as a “last resort”, the sports assistant assures this Thursday in a budgetary context that is already very tight for the capital.
The partial or total closure of swimming pools, equipment with high energy consumption, “will be the last resort if we have no alternatives,” replied Pierre Rabadan, questioned by AFP about this possibility after the announcement this Monday by PS Mayor Anne Hidalgo, during a back-to-school seminar, about the need to save 250 million euros to balance the budget.
The closure of swimming pools managed directly by the City Council is not foreseen
On the same day, around thirty French public swimming pools managed by the private operator Vert Marine abruptly closed, claiming the company could no longer cope with rising energy prices. Among them, the Pailleron space (19th century), recently operated by Vert Marine, remained closed on Thursday, the day of its scheduled reopening.
The city council “has been presented with a fait accompli, we are clearly in a position of blackmail”, lashed out Pierre Rabadan for whom “other solutions were possible” and who maintains the objective of reopening the sports facility “as soon as possible”.
For the pools that it manages directly, the council is not considering “for the moment” any reduction in hours or even closure “because we care about sports equipment,” says the elected, recalling that the City Council benefits from a “controlled cost of electricity until end of 2023”.
Meanwhile, the council is looking for solutions to “reduce the energy consumption of sports equipment, especially swimming pools,” he explains.
Debates between Parisian elected officials and lifeguard union organizations
In addition to the heavy lifting, “short-term” installations will be carried out to improve “temperature regulation according to outside temperature”, heat conservation and water filtration, explains Mr Rabadan. Paris has 42 public swimming pools, the vast majority under management and three, including Pailleron, under public service delegation (DSP).
Parisian elected officials are also due to start discussions on September 15 with lifeguard unions, whose spontaneous strikes have led to unexpected swimming pool closures for several months. According to Pierre Rabadan, 3 or 4 swimming pools were closed on average per day in July, then 1 or 2 in August. But with 300,000 visitors in July, Parisian swimming pools are back to pre-Covid levels of attendance, the city council rejoices.
Source: BFM TV
