Of the 146 swimming pools listed by the sports registry in Wallonia, about 60 are closed or unavailable to the public because they’re within a school compound, reports Sudinfo.
Politicians have for years expressed their desire to increase the number of swimming pools in the region. A “pool plan” in 2018 selected 33 projects, mainly focusing on renovations though with some new constructions.
Of these, 20 pools have been completed and six more projects are underway.
26 projects have actually started and – yet this work is far from enough. The Walloon website which lists sporting locations managed by local authorities and sports clubs in the region, has 146 swimming pools registered, although at least 30 are currently inaccessible or permanently closed. Only 16 plan to reopen after renovation works.
When school pools are discluded, since these are not open to the public, the region has a total of 81 accessible public pools, although some are seasonal as they are entirely outdoors. One more can be added if the Plopsaqua pool in Hannut is included, which is a public-private venture.
