As the extreme heat of the coming days again exposed the acute shortage of swimming water in the capital, the Brussels Parliament is being urged to speed up its open-air swimming pool project in Anderlecht.
Brussels currently only has one public swimming pool per 68,000 inhabitants – considerably fewer than in Flanders (1/22,000) and Wallonia (1/29,000). They are structurally overburdened, especially during school hours. And even worse in the heat, none of them are outdoors.
"With the summer holidays approaching, young people in particular need somewhere to swim," said Brussels MP Ilyas Mouani (Vooruit). "It is high time that they were finally able to swim outdoors in their own city and did not have to travel to other cities. Since the closure of Océade in 2018, they have had nowhere else to go."
To highlight the urgency of the problem, he and Pascal Smet, leader of the Vooruit faction in the Brussels Parliament, tabled a resolution on the issue.
The Brussels skyline
Demand for outdoor swimming is increasing, especially in the summer months. With the disappearance of the temporary FLOW initiative at the Biestebroek dock, Brussels is currently the only European city with more than a million inhabitants and no outdoor swimming pool.
Therefore, Vooruit is urging the outgoing Brussels Government to urgently take up the case for an open-air swimming pool on the Abattoir site in Anderlecht. The project was already announced in 2022.
The swimming pool project, which is part of the broader urban renewal project 'Manufakture', not only provides much-needed infrastructure for school swimming and recreation, but also offers the prospect of an inclusive and vibrant neighbourhood in Cureghem.
The pool would be built on the roof of the building, next to two indoor pools and a terrace looking out to the city's skyline. It has already been prepared by the Urban Development Corporation (MSI), with the support of various authorities, including the Brussels Region and the Flemish Community Commission.
"The plans are on the table. With this resolution, we want to authorise the Brussels Government to start the tendering procedure. It is time to take action now," said Smet. The feasibility study has been completed, the roof reinforcement has been finished, and a subsidy of €3.24 million has been promised.
In June last year, State Secretary for Urbanism Ans Persoons (Vooruit) confirmed that the Brussels Government planned to go ahead with a project. It would be implemented under a Design, Build, Finance, Maintain and Operate (DBFMO) contract.
"Everything is ready to take the next step. We cannot let this opportunity pass us by," Smet said. "The open-air swimming pool on the Abattoir site is not a luxury, but a necessity – for our schools, for the neighbourhood and for the whole of Brussels."
