In the middle of 2020, construction of a swimming pool of international standard with Chinese investments started on Kalvariyskaya Street in Minsk. CityDog.io took a look at how the building looks like 3.5 years later.
Who is building this pool?
The future swimming pool will be located within the boundaries of Kalvariyskaya, Domashevskaya, Kharkovskaya streets and 1st Zagorodny Lane. Nearby are the subway station "Maladziezhnaya", business center Silver Tower, railway station "Minsk-Severny" and cultural and business quarter K21. It is easy to get here from anywhere in the city.
The construction of the new swimming pool became known back in 2018 - it was then that an intergovernmental agreement between Belarus and China was signed. It provided for grant aid for the implementation of a number of projects in our country, including the pool of international standard.
Before preparing the site, several residential buildings and organizations had to be evicted, including the printing house "Krasnaya Zvezda", founded back in 1927, and "Avtokombinat No. 2". At the end of 2018, demolition of the buildings began. The construction of the pool itself started only in the middle of 2020.
The project will be implemented by specialists from the People's Republic of China, and after commissioning the facility will be handed over to the Republican Olympic Training Center for Aquatic Sports. At the same time, the pool will be available not only for athletes, but also for all comers: Minsk citizens will be able to come here in their free time from the training process.
Why does Minsk need such a pool?
"A swimming pool of international standard will become not only a place for sports and fitness. Entertainment and recreation for citizens and guests of the capital will be provided in the sports park, which will be located nearby. Here you can skateboard, sunbathe on the sandy beach, take a dip in the pool, take a leisurely walk or jog along the paths laid here". This is how the pool was described in the Telegram channel of Minsk city executive committee.
In 2021, the agency Minsk-Novosti wrote that the pool would become a training base for the national and national teams of Belarus in water sports. It is also planned to hold qualifying competitions for participation in international competitions: the Olympic Games, World and European Championships in water sports.
The pool will meet the requirements and standards of the international federation (FINA), which will make it possible to hold competitions of the highest level: not only European championships, as it was supposed in the beginning, but also world championships and their stages. But how much it is possible in the reality we live in is a big question.
This is how the building should look like in the end.
This is how it looks right now from the same angle. The very rhombuses on the facade are already visible.
This is how the future swimming pool looks from the side of the Minsk-Severny railway station.
The end part of the building - it can be seen from the bridge on Kalvariyskaya Street.
And this is how this place looked before everything was demolished there - in 2016. On the left is the Minsk-Severny railway station, in the center is the exit from the Maladzyozhnaya metro station, and on the right is the building of the very printing house Krasnaya Zvezda.
The same place, but already in 2021: construction has begun.
According to the project, the building will include several zones: for competitions, recreation, warm-up and training. The main 50-meter pool with 10 lanes and a mobile platform will have everything necessary for international and national competitions in swimming, water polo and synchronized swimming.
The same parameters and the second 50-meter pool, which during the competition period is designed for warming up athletes, and at other times will be used as a training pool. It is planned to be used for recreational sessions of Minsk citizens.
To teach children and adults to swim, a 25-meter and children's pools will be located on the first floor. The latter, with a shallow bowl, is suitable for the youngest visitors - up to 6 years old.
The main feature of the complex is a specialized pool-hydrochannel for training high-class athletes. It will be located separately from all training areas and will have modern scientific equipment.
According to plans, the complex will include gyms, a spa zone, a cafe and a restaurant with European and Chinese cuisine. It is assumed that up to 5,000 people a day will be able to visit the sports facility.
When will the construction be completed?
Initially it was planned to finish the construction of the swimming pool at the end of 2023. But in mid-autumn of last year it became known that the dates were postponed: now the official deadline is December 31, 2024.
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