” Rheiner Bäder are delighted to finally be able to announce the long-awaited opening date for the new Aqua Reni leisure pool. We will be opening our Aqua Reni on Sunday, January 28, 2024! Then the time has finally come and we can open the doors for swimming. We would like to thank all swimming enthusiasts for their patience,” says Dorothee Heckhuis, Managing Director of Rheiner Bäder, in a press release from Rheiner Bäder.
During the construction period, the client, Rheiner Bäder GmbH, faced various challenges: suspected explosive ordnance in the ground, the COVID-19 pandemic, various supply bottlenecks, construction delays and personnel capacity bottlenecks at service providers as well as the energy crisis. Total costs of around EUR 21 million were estimated at the start of construction; as things stand today, the construction costs amount to EUR 24 million. The cost increase is far below the nationwide construction price increase of approx. 52%. The additional costs are due to the price increases and the necessary improvements.
“After a total construction period of around three years, the Aqua Reni swimming pool will usher in a new era for all swimming enthusiasts in Rheine and the region when it opens on Sunday, January 28, 2024,” said Dorothee Heckhuis, Managing Director of Rheiner Bäder, announcing the upcoming opening. “A visit to Aqua Reni will be an experience for everyone.”
Highlights of the Aqua Reni
Aqua Reni has a total water surface area of 2,204.5m2, of which 1,443m2 is outdoors and 761.5m2 indoors. In the newly built indoor area, families and children can let off steam in the varied water play area with a “farm” theme – the little ones can even “catch fish” there. The two slides are something very special, because here you can slide through various selectable themed worlds: through the jungle, outer space or the ocean. But water sports enthusiasts will also get their money’s worth: In future, you will be able to swim your laps on six 25-meter lanes. At certain operating times, there will be a swimming highway for lane swimming on two of these lanes. Thrill-seekers can jump into the sports pool from the 3-meter diving tower or the 1-meter diving board. Visitors can also make themselves comfortable on the bubble loungers and massage jets in the 30° warm brine outdoor pool. The multifunctional pool also has massage jets and neck showers. You can also swim laps in variable water depths over 16.66 m. Visitors can also enjoy many other options and activities in the water – indoors and outdoors, all year round. The water temperature in the large pool is between 26° Celsius and 28° Celsius, in the non-swimmers’ pool around 30-32°, and in the children’s pool around 32-33°. In a separate activity pool, a range of courses will be offered in the future, from water gymnastics to baby swimming. These courses are offered by clubs, institutions and companies. Interested parties can obtain information on this from the respective course organizer. All pools are equipped with lifting floors so that the use of the pools can be flexibly adapted to requirements at any time. Swimming clubs have also been taken into consideration. From a grandstand, interested parties can cheer on the participants in competitions, for example underwater rugby or other swimming events.
Collective and individual changing rooms as well as a disabled changing room are available for visitors. The changing rooms for larger groups, such as school classes or children’s swimming courses, are equipped with lockable lockers, a single changing room and changing tables for younger guests.
All bathers should feel comfortable in the new Aqua Reni swimming pool. For this reason, many precautions have been taken to make the new indoor pool as attractive as possible for guests with disabilities or impairments. For example, there is wheelchair-accessible access to the wet area from the cash desk. There is also a hydraulic lifting seat for people with disabilities to get into the pools.
“Our Aqua Reni not only offers water fun, but also a selection of refreshments from our kiosk. Here you can choose from crispy chips, refreshing ice cream, sweets, various coffee specialties and a variety of soft drinks,” enthuses Bernd Marschalck, head of Aqua Reni. Our kiosk has seating areas inside and in the foyer for refreshments. In summer, you can also take a seat in the adjoining outdoor area.
Before or after your visit to our leisure pool, it’s also worth taking a look in the Aqua Reni store. Here we offer a regularly changing range of swimming accessories, merchandising and other items to enhance your swimming experience.
Swimming rates
During the winter season, time rates start at €4.50 for adults for 1.5 hours of swimming fun and increase to €10.00 for the daily rate at weekends. For the summer season, however, there is only a daily price of €6.00 and €7.00 at weekends. There are also cash value tickets as well as annual and season tickets for bathers. From the beginning of 2024, admission tickets as well as cash value and special tickets can also be purchased online in our ticket store – this saves queuing at the ticket office! It is particularly worthwhile for energy customers of Stadtwerke Rheine, as they save an additional ten percent on the purchase of cash-value and special tickets.
Dorothee Heckhuis is delighted with the upcoming reopening: “The completion of the new swimming pool is a milestone for Rheine. The new pool concept will enhance the swimming facilities in Rheine and the region and make the region itself even more attractive.” Bernd Marschalck is also eagerly awaiting the opening: “After the numerous challenges associated with such a complex new building, our team is particularly pleased to finally be able to open the swimming pool!”
The opening at the end of January is still a few weeks away. In the meantime, the commissioning phase will continue, during which everything will be put through its paces. This will be followed by trial operation, final cleaning and final preparations for the opening.
With the opening of Aqua Reni, the indoor pool Rheine on Hemelter Straße will be closed on 27.01.2024 and operations there will cease.
Further up-to-date information can be found at www.kombibad-Rheine.de and from the beginning of 2024 also at www.aqua-reni.de. The new Aqua Reni website is still under construction.