Former Lobeda-West indoor swimming pool: new prospects for future use

Press release from Jenaer Bäder und Freizeit GmbH

The former Lobeda-West indoor swimming pool is to be gradually developed into a new leisure and adventure venue. The basis for this is a feasibility study commissioned by Jenaer Bäder, which was presented today together with the city of Jena and project partners at a press event on site.

Since the closure of the indoor swimming pool in 2023, many people in Jena have been concerned about the future use of the building. A comprehensive feasibility study was therefore carried out between the end of 2025 and the beginning of 2026 on behalf of Jenaer Bäder. The basis for this was a broad participation process in 2024 and 2025 with citizens, local stakeholders and various interest groups. A total of around 2,700 people took part in surveys and workshops.

The study examined three possible development directions: a cultural and event location, an exercise location with a focus on sport and an experience-oriented leisure location.

The study found an experience-oriented use to be particularly viable. According to the study, it reaches the broadest target group and offers the best conditions for long-term economic operation. However, this does not yet mean that a final decision has been made on the specific orientation of the former indoor swimming pool. Rather, the study serves as a basis for the next development steps.

New perspectives through interim use

The focus in the coming years will be on a targeted expansion of interim use: the former swimming pool hall is to be gradually developed further for this purpose. The aim is to test different uses under real conditions and find out which offers work in the long term and suit the location.

Jenaer Bäder is working with the reCoVer Foundation Jena and its project structure "Blank - Agency for Interim Use" to implement the interim use and further develop the hall. The cooperation was officially signed during the press event. The aim of the collaboration is to create new opportunities for encounters, cultural offerings and communal use. Interim use creates space to try out, make visible and further develop ideas together with local players, associations, creative people and initiatives. In this way, places can be revitalized, new networks can be established and impulses for an open and diverse urban society can be set.

From June 2026, part of the hall will be used temporarily as part of the GalaxSea refurbishment: Massage and beauty services will temporarily move into the building. In the future, the temporary use will be expanded to include other leisure, cultural and exercise activities.

The development of the former indoor swimming pool has been deliberately designed as a multi-year process. Over the next two to three years, concepts will be tested and evaluated under real conditions. Based on the experience gained, a decision will then be made on a permanent subsequent use.

Voices on the future of the former Lobeda-West indoor swimming pool

Bernhard Dengel, Managing Director of Jenaer Bäder und Freizeit GmbH:

"The feasibility study gives us a reliable orientation for the further development of the former indoor swimming pool. At the same time, we are not making a final decision at this stage - we want to develop the future use step by step and incorporate practical experience in the process. The aim is to find a solution that is economically viable in the long term and at the same time remains open to everyone in the city."

Johannes Schleußner, Head of Department for Education, Youth, Culture and Sport:

"The results of the feasibility study pick up on many ideas and needs from the citizenry. It was important for us not to make a hasty decision, but to examine possible uses that could strengthen encounters, exercise, culture and community life in Lobeda."

Katrin Hitziggrad, Blank - Agency for interim use:

"For us, interim use means not just thinking and planning a place in theory, but gradually filling it with life together with local stakeholders. The former Lobeda-West indoor swimming pool offers the opportunity to try out different ideas and formats under real conditions and to learn from them what will be accepted in the long term. In my view, vacancy is not an alternative. There is a high demand for space from various players in the arts, culture and movement in Jena. Enabling interim use offers an important basis here"