City history: The municipal indoor swimming pool on Meckenemstraße

The opening of the indoor swimming pool - later called the "Meckenembad" - fulfilled a long-standing wish of the Bocholt population. Even before the First World War, the city fathers had been planning a local indoor swimming pool, but the project soon came to nothing. What had been presented in the press as an April Fool's joke on 1 April 1953 was finally put into action by the decision of the main committee on 31 August of the same year.

Hans Fey from Wuppertal-Barmen and the architects Neuhaus and Hase from Wanne-Eickel were commissioned with the design and construction. They estimated a total construction cost of around DM 1.5 million. The ground-breaking ceremony took place on 15 July 1955, and ten months later the topping-out wreath flew over the shell of the building. Another year passed before the indoor swimming pool was officially handed over on 5 July 1957.

The location of the building site determined the division of the building into a two-storey front building, an adjoining T-shaped hall and the extension in front for baths and spas. The swimming pool measured 25 metres in length and 12.50 metres in width and reached water depths of between one metre and 3.50 metres. A three-metre diving tower and two one-metre diving boards were installed at the front of the pool. 16 high windows on both long sides provided good lighting conditions.

The indoor pool also had a sunbathing terrace at the rear and 44 changing rooms and 132 lockers at the front, separated by gender. The ground floor housed the machinery and, in the entrance area, the ticket office, a hairdressing salon and a milk bar.

"Yes, we can still make big leaps, which the city and the town councillors can no longer do, where they still have to take such a deep dive into the baths"! With these words, the cartoon duo "Ohme un Bännätzken" from the Bocholter-Borkener Volksblatt commented on the opening of the new municipal indoor swimming pool on 5 July 1957. It was under the management of the municipal utilities. At the beginning of August 1962 - five years after the opening - the 1 millionth visitor was welcomed. Two years later, the first renovation was due and all the windows were replaced in 1973. The Meckenembad finally ceased operations in December 1993 and was demolished at the end of October 1997. Today, the "Kinodrom" cinema is located in its place.

Photo: Bocholt city archive, image collection no. 4218, text: Wolfgang Tembrink