Riviera swimming pool
The phenomenon of disappearing and abandoned swimming pools has many causes, yet common denominators can be traced. In general, these are economic causes, where the operation of the bathing site is loss-making or where significant investment in the facilities and equipment of the site is required. An example is the Riviera swimming pool in the Malenovice district of Zlín, which had to be closed in 2007 after legislation was tightened in accordance with EU directives because the owners were unwilling to spend the money on the necessary reconstruction.
The history of the swimming pool in the sub-castle (below Malenovice Castle) dates back to 1932, when there was a pond adapted for bathing. Later (around the 1960s), a 34 × 17 m swimming pool was built, which was bought in 1992 for 1.6 million by Zdeněk Blažek and three other partners and put into operation a year later. In 1994, the slide was supplemented by a 23-metre kamikaze slide. To this day we can still read on the slide that it was made by SEP Uherské Hradiště and Reflex Zlín.
Since 2007, the facility has been offered for purchase; due to the estimated reconstruction costs of about 40 to 60 million crowns and unprofitable operation, no buyer has yet emerged. According to their statements, the representatives of Zlín have often considered that the city would buy the complex and operate it, but it has remained just words. Apart from the need to spend considerable financial resources, arguments were also made about the unsuitable location of the swimming pool in the valley (the sun soon sets behind the hills), poor parking possibilities and the potential conflict of interest of the co-owner Blažek, who was a city councillor.
The unfortunate fate of the Malenovice swimming pool is water for the mill of Malenovice's efforts to create a separate municipal district of Malenovice. Many locals have good memories of their time spent at the Riviera and the current state of the swimming pool is hard to bear.
Source Kafélanka