On Monday, May 13, 2013, an agreement was signed in Bolesławiec for the execution of the project “Restoring the former function of the bathing facility in the historic swimming pool at Zgorzelecka Street.” The agreement was signed by Bolesławiec Mayor Piotr Roman and Dariusz Raczycki, Director of the Projects Team at Skanska, the company carrying out the project. The value of the signed contract is PLN 10,449,310.91.
According to Bolesławiec Mayor Piotr Roman, this project is another element of the broadly understood revitalization of the city, aimed at improving the living standards of residents in the revitalized area and increasing the city’s appeal.
The revitalization of the building will involve renovating the municipal swimming pool and restoring its primary function as a bathing facility. It is worth recalling that the former Municipal Bathing Facilities were built in two stages. In 1895, the bathhouse building was erected in the Northern Renaissance style. The second part was built in 1914–1915. Its design incorporated a tower that once belonged to the city’s fortification system. The second section housed a swimming pool, gymnasium and steam bath. The Bolesławiec guidebook “In the Footsteps of Famous Europeans” mentions bas-reliefs by Jena von Bary-Doussin, which were placed on the eastern wall of the swimming pool. Their subject is two contrasting scenes: an image depicting weary and exhausted people is juxtaposed with a scene showing the joy and vitality of those who take care of their physical fitness. Between the bas-reliefs there was a text, now no longer extant: “Come, hasten to this place which a friend has prepared for you, so that after wonderful refreshment, full of strength, you may continue on your way.”
The revitalized facility will offer preventive health activities and a wide range of rehabilitation and wellness treatments. The building will be adapted to the needs of people with disabilities through the construction of a passenger lift and the installation of a special pool lift enabling a person with a disability to be lowered into the water.
The equipment will include, among other things: a jacuzzi; dry, steam and infrared saunas; a SPA capsule; a negative-pressure walking chamber; and a salt grotto. Three jacuzzi-type minibaths with saltwater are planned for the pool hall. The pool equipment will include hydromassage devices, water cannons and sprinklers. The wellness room will be equipped, among other things, with spa beds, massage beds, bathtubs and hydromassage devices. The cardio room will include, among other things, a treadmill, rowing machines, steppers, elliptical trainers and exercise benches.
The planned conservation work includes, among other things: replacing the roof tiles above the pool section; cleaning and supplementing the clinker facing on the façades; conserving the skylight above the pool hall; repairing damage to the dark-green decorative tiles and other historic ceramic wall coverings; cleaning and securing the wrought-iron railings; cleaning, impregnating and waterproofing the sandstone slabs and terracotta plaques; replacing the windows; cleaning and conserving the existing cast-iron columns in the cardio room; exposing and protecting against moisture the walls in the tower beside the planned saltwater pool in the pool hall and the walls of the cardio room; and illuminating the tower and the cardio room.
The project received funding under the Regional Operational Programme for the Lower Silesian Voivodeship for 2007–2013. The submission of the funding application was preceded by extensive public consultations and the preparation of a Local Revitalization Plan. The purpose of the public consultations was to inform as many Bolesławiec residents as possible about the activities proposed under the LRP, while also gathering their opinions and identifying their preferences. As a result, priority tasks were identified. Their implementation is intended, among other things, to improve the aesthetics of the city-centre space, increase the appeal of central Bolesławiec, and create an attractive place to live and spend free time. The funding amounts to PLN 6,605,784.69 and represents 70% of the project’s eligible expenditure; total expenditure amounts to PLN 11,610,040.65.
(information: Bolesławiec Municipal Office)