France’s biggest urban park now features a public pop-up pool

To compensate for the lack of places in its public swimming pools, the city of Lyon has installed a pop-up pool in its famous urban park.

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Lyon’s residents are happy! To compensate for the lack of places in its public swimming pools this summer, the city of Lyon (France) has installed a pop-up pool in its famous Tête d'Or urban park. All the available time slots were booked in the first week!

The main pool

Pop-up pools – a remedy for heat waves

The above-ground water playground pool accessible to people with reduced mobility was installed by the Weeloc City company in the Georges-Préreval velodrome, in the middle of the one of France’s biggest urban parks. The maximum depth is one meter and there is a 2000sq.m. beach. A great place to cool off in peaceful, green, surroundings.

The concept is to create an island of coolness in the middle of a city that swelters in the summer heat and many of the inhabitants of which are having to do without their summer holidays by the sea this year due to Covid-19. The pools free-off room in the city’s four other public pools always full in summer and, because of the pandemic, even more saturated as their capacity is restricted by social distancing. The cost of the pop-up pool operation remains reasonable for a big city: 300,000 € of which 10% will be amortized by the 2€ ticket sales.

Read also: Challenges of successful territorial integration of public swimming pools

The children area

Yes! It is possible to open a public swimming pool complying with the anti-COVID rules!

Just like for the city’s other pools reopened since lockdown, the Tête d’Or urban park pop-up pool complies with a specific sanitary protocol. You have to book in advance, only stay for 2 hours and only come twice a week. Only 80 swimmers are allowed in the water at the same time – providing total safety for 16,000 users by the end of the summer – 13% of the total capacity of the five public pools. For the time being, bookings can only be made by people living in the city.

To avoid any risk of contamination, the pool concept is beach-oriented with no changing rooms!

The pop-up pool includes a break area

Welcome additions

Pop-up pools, just like mobile pools we already talked about, are fast to install and easily tailored to meet specific needs perfectly. The public pool in the Tête d’Or urban park instantly attracted the attention of the media and all the journalists wanted to be the first to test it!

Pop-up Pools are a super idea. Very pleasant and well designed, they are a great spot to have a good time with your pals or family. Even if you can’t pack in the lengths you can enjoy splashing around and cooling off in pleasant surroundings.

Lyon Citycrunch

An ideal outing! I am impressed because the pools are for everyone – the handicapped, children and adults. The beach area is super too. I can’t imagine anyone finding fault

— Maud, interviewed by 20minutes

Two euros for two hours in these amazing surroundings are good value for money. A great idea, especially for kids.

Lyon Capitale

Overall very positive opinions, but two problems. The synthetic grass lawns get boiling hot in the sun and the lack of a refreshment bar. What goes on outside the pools is important which is why the Piscine Global Europe Trade Show includes an “outdoor section”!

More and more public authorities are adopting pop-up pools. This affordable solution opens new horizons for cities short on swimming pools or with insufficient capacities when summer comes. This must be of interest to the pool market, always on the outlook for new opportunities – and new products!

Check out the latest innovations in the sector:

Visit Piscine Global Europe!


© Photos credits: Christophe Candellier

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