Wednesday 12, July
Columbiabad in Neukölln to stay closed all week
Bad news for Neukölln’s pool-goers, as this morning the Columbiabad management announced on their website that the pool would stay closed all week.
After a fight broke out between staff and a group of young visitors on Sunday, the popular public pool was cleared of visitors and shut early. Like a few of Berlin’s public bathing facilities, Columbiabad is finding itself short-staffed at the moment, with many employees on sick leave.
According to officials from Berliner Bäder-Betriebe, the municipal agency that runs a total of 61 public pools in Berlin: “The number of incidents and the behaviour of some bathers are an extreme burden for our very committed employees in the pools. This is not sustainable in the long run.” Unsurprisingly, after violent incidents like Sunday’s take place, there tends to be a sharp increase in the number of staff calling in sick, likely due to stress.
Tensions are heating up, along with the weather, as already limited swimming capacity is being pushed to the brink. Die Linke Neukölln has officially called for more pool staff, as another outdoor pool in the 330,000-inhabitant district of Neukölln, the Kombibad Gropiusstadt, is currently only open to a limited extent.
