The new season is approaching, but only recently the summer pool balance 2019 in Gauting became known - and it is bad. In spite of good weather with hot sunny days of 40 degrees in June and July, significantly fewer bathers came than expected.
Gauting - In contrast to the record year 2018 with a total of 70 255 bathers, the number of visitors dropped to only 58 257 people - a decrease of more than 17 percent. There was a trend towards bathing in lakes across Bavaria, technical director Christian Ruhdorfer explained at the municipal council meeting on Tuesday evening the reasons for the break-in.
In the record summer of 2018, more than 1000 visitors were counted over 23 days. In 2019 there were only 19 such peak days. "Peak days were June 1st and July 1st," said Ruhdorfer looking back. Less than 500 visitors came over 79 days. From mid-July, the flow of bathers subsided. Wet August brought in slumps. Children and young people from local kindergartens or schools, the swimming school of the Gautinger Sports Club (GSC), the Seaworld diving school Stockdorf, the swimming school of ex-Olympian Steffen Pilz and the BRK water guard Pilsensee used the well-maintained Gautinger sports and leisure Complex with diving platform, beach volleyball court and tree shade lawn. Tobias McFadden (Pirate Party) expressly regretted the decline in visitor numbers. His fear that the prices for day tickets increased from 5 to 6 euros would only deter visitors to the baths, was confirmed.
The deficit that the municipality had to make up for last season was just under 273,000 euros. The income from admission fees totaled almost 204,000 euros, the expenses were 476,000 euros, explained the technical manager. In 2019, the entire pool head of the 50-meter sports pool including fittings was replaced. The deficit was around the 2018 level and below that of 2017.
Water playground from summer 2020
And in the 2020 season? "Our first bather," joked Ruhdorfer and showed a picture of a duck from nearby Würm, who was swimming lonely in the 50-meter sports pool. Seriously, the water playground, which should be completed by summer, will be brand new in the coming season. The water quality in the children's paddling pool, in which ducks frolic at night and what is left behind, "was no longer safe, but was never a concern". Therefore, the already presented concrete-rock landscape is created as a water playground. Demolition work has already started. Only the concrete basin body remains. In the back lawn area in the south, access for construction vehicles was temporarily created. The experienced concrete artist then moves in at the end of April and designs the rock formation with attractive water features for children.
"What happens to the lawn then?" Asked municipal councilor Wolfgang Meiler (BiG). Before the start of the season, a wire layer with substrate and lawn came over the paved driveway, explained the technical manager. Because: "We can't take the helicopter to the construction site." Towards the end of the work, the concrete worker would then place a silo in the checkout area, Ruhdorfer added. From there, the concrete is led via the entrance stairs directly to the future rock landscape.
Christine Cless-Wesle
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