Clear words from the advisory board

Bankrupt city can no longer pay for indoor pool

This is what the indoor pool should have looked like.(Bild: Rojsek-Wiedergut Uta)

The planned 70 million euro sports pool on the Südring in Klagenfurt is likely to be history. The consolidation advisory board, which is supposed to save the budget for 2025, has rejected the construction for the time being. Only €44 million of the €50 million loan is still available.

For decades, it has not been possible to realize any of the large indoor swimming pools planned in Klagenfurt. Now the consolidation advisory board, in which the financial experts Harald Kogler (Hirsch) and Peter Pilz (BDO) are supposed to save a budget, has also said no to the planned project on the Südring. The reason: the city simply cannot afford it.

Indoor swimming pool loan to save the city
Six million euros of the earmarked 50 million euro loan for the indoor swimming pool have already been used. "The city needs the rest for liquidity over the next two years," says the advisory board. "The renovation measures for the budget will take two years before any money comes back. The city's liquidity is simply no longer sufficient."

Plan B in the Pletzer Arena?
Internal loans also have to be repaid. "We need a plan B," say the experts. One option would be a sports pool in the Pletzer Arena. The project would cost 35 million euros. But even these plans can probably only be implemented from 20207.

The existing indoor pool in Gasometergasse, which has been closed since 2021 due to structural problems, is not an option. Firstly, the concrete there is long outdated. Secondly, the site was sold for nine million euros for residential construction. The first installment of the purchase price will be paid after the dedication, which is to be decided at the next municipal council meeting.

And while the consolidation advisory board advises against the project, Mayor Christian Scheider is sticking to the plans: "The project is not off the table."