In the midst of last summer’s heat, hundreds of Parisians jumped into the Bassin de la Villette to cool off, despite a 1923 health ban on swimming there. Now the city administration wants to anchor three temporary pools there for next summer.
Next month, the city administration will propose the pools, which will be built along the Quai de la Loire, the south bank of the basin in northeast Paris. The three large pools would have depths of 40 cm for children, 120 cm and 200 cm.
The basin was built in Napoleon’s time, and was a busy shipping point for canal traffic. It’s at the point where the Canal Saint-Denis and Canal Saint-Martin meet the Canal de l’Ourcq.
The swimming ban dates to days when both traffic and pollution were a problem. Jean-Francois Martins, the city’s head of sports, says the water is safe. “Beside the quality of the swimming experience, we also want to improve the biodiversity and the quality of the water in Paris in general. This quality is suitably stable today to guarantee swimming at any time.”
