July the 30th, 2024 – Two decades of promises have gone by since the first mention of this particular big Zagreb project. Is it finally about to actually be realised?
Now, a post in a Facebook group might not seem as if it’s a 100% reliable source. We all know the types of ”news” that end of posted on the social media giant, but this one seems as if it holds water. Quite literally when you realise which large Zagreb project it’s referencing.
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, on the “Zakaj volim Špansko” (Why I love Špansko) Facebook group, an interesting post appeared. It stated the following: “Notice of the start of work on the Stenjevec closed pool project with a substation”, it reads at the beginning of the notice that appeared a few days ago on a sign put up in Špansko, which has already faded since it has been standing and promises the start of work on the construction of a swimming pool in that neighbourhood.
“Citizens are asked to remove their vehicles and objects from the car park, considering that from Monday 07/29/2024, works on the building are going to be starting on the same side” reads the continuation of the message that was quickly posted in the aforementioned local group.
praise and scepticism in response to this long-awaited zagreb project
Beneath the post – dozens of comments can be read praising the final realisation of this long-anticipated Zagreb project. However, most of them also contain somewhat (rightly) cynical quips that the works are being opened for the 78th time because, as the neighbourhood’s residents remember, this indoor swimming pool has been being promised to them since the early 2000s. However, it really does seem that this time, the works could actually end up starting because the contractors have been selected and there are no formal-legal obstacles to start this large Zagreb project. Mayor Tomislav Tomašević also promised that the works will start in July in an interview with Večernji list on the occasion of him being at the helm of the capital’s administration for three years.
As a reminder, the works on this Zagreb project were originally announced for the spring of this year, but it seems that the bureaucracy and the tender process dragged on until the summer. The construction period is 18 months, and the entire complex should cost about 20 million euros. None of it will be financed from European Union (EU) funds, but at the expense of the budget.
As for the swimming pool, it is the idea of the project studio Ante Murales by Ante Nikša Bilić, Sunčica Mastelić-Ivić and Marko Gusić. According to them, the plan is to revive the idea of a 19th-century bathhouse on the planned plot, but in a more modern way, inside a closed and glass, well-lit space that will include gardens placed along the outer edges of the building.
winter transformations as well as summer refreshment
“The water surface could be used in the winter for neighbourhood skating, and the entire square for any appropriate Advent in Zagreb festivities. This space is also suitable for an artistic intervention”, they explained when discussing the conceptual solution, emphasising that the goal is to create a new central area for this city settlement.
From the entrance through the foyer, visitors will be able to arrive in the auditorium with 250 to 300 seats and a catering facility. There will also be a sauna which will be able to be reached either by taking the elevator or walking up the stairs. In addition to swimming facilities, the future complex will also include a gym and fitness hall, which will be accessed from the main atrium. The plan as things stand is for it all to be decorated with greenhouses one metre deep which will serve to grow aromatic types of plants for treatments in the swimming pools. This is because, in addition to the two main swimming pools, the team of architects behind this Zagreb project allegedly also imagine a number of smaller swimming pools like jacuzzis, geysers , mud, fire and sound baths, a tropical waterfall, hot stone treatment and so on.
