Federal Minister Klara Geywitz: "The Hardtbergbad is an important place for Bonn. Many Bonn residents have learned to swim here, meet up with friends or get involved in clubs. I am therefore delighted that the federal government is able to support the city's commitment to a barrier-free and energy-saving swimming pool with six million euros. Funding could not be better invested. I wish Bonn every success in implementing this important project."
"It's good that the federal government is helping us with the climate-friendly renovation of the pool. The municipal facilities, including the swimming pools, have great potential in terms of energy efficiency. Climate protection is a task for all levels, which is why I very much welcome the fact that the federal government and the city of Bonn are also pulling together with regard to the refurbishment of municipal facilities," said Mayor Katja Dörner.
The federal funds will be used for the first construction phase, with the renovation of the indoor pool and the addition of a moving floor pool. In addition to the indoor pool renovation and the extension, the pool heads in the outdoor pool will also be renovated. Once the work is complete, the Hardtbergbad will offer schools, clubs and other bathers an additional teaching pool, a family area with course and children's pools, an 80-metre-long slide and a catering area.
Extensive preparatory work, expert opinions, concrete and pollutant investigations have already been carried out in the indoor pool over the summer. The first construction work is expected to start in March 2025 with the renovation of the sewers. According to current planning, the first construction phase should be completed by the end of 2027 and the entire pool should then reopen in 2028. The planned costs amount to 51.5 million euros.
Background to the federal funding program
In view of the existing need for renovation and modernization, the federal government has been supporting cities and municipalities since 2016 with the federal programme "Renovation of municipal facilities in the areas of sport, youth and culture" to maintain these social infrastructure facilities. Since 2022, the funding has been budgeted in the economic plan of the Climate and Transformation Fund (KTF). Since then, the projects to be funded must contribute to achieving the goals of the Climate Protection Act in the buildings sector and meet high energy requirements with the aim of significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
In response to the call for projects in 2022, cities and municipalities across Germany were able to apply to the federal government for funding for the climate-friendly and barrier-free refurbishment of their sports facilities, swimming pools and youth and cultural facilities. The funds from the federal program are primarily intended to support long-term municipal projects of particular regional or supra-regional importance and high quality in terms of their energy efficiency and climate change adaptation performance.
The projects to be funded must be of particular importance for social cohesion and social integration in the municipality. Almost 750 municipalities with a total of 990 project outlines expressed their interest in funding investment projects in 2022. The city of Bonn submitted a project outline worth 25 million euros and will now receive six million euros in funding.