Cork campaign for outdoor swimming pool gets off the ground

CORK'S campaign for an outdoor swimming pool has gotten off the starting blocks and into the water with Cork City Council sponsoring a feasibility study for the project.

The Lido initiative has been spearheaded by Marathon Swimmer Niall Kenny along with a dedicated committee who met with City Hall about six months ago initially.

Mr Kenny explained the process.

“From that meeting, we then had to get three quotes from engineering firms who were happy to work with us. Thankfully MWP in Blackrock were on that list and with their extensive portfolio, we felt they were the best fit.” The feasibility study with MWP will begin in January and can take up to 10 weeks to complete.

Chatting about the progress, Mr Kenny said: “We are delighted to be on the first rung of the ladder and having Cork City Council as lead sponsor for this study and with the full support of Swim Ireland ( National Governing Body ) it reaffirms we're on the right track for facilities for open water swimming in Cork.” Mr Kenny said the next step for the collaboration was choosing a site and select facilities.

“The next step will be a combination of final site allocation and confirming our wish list for the site chosen. ( i.e. will it have one pool or two, diving boards, shops, yoga & gym space, sauna, etc.).

The Marathon swimmer said he was enthused by the support and backing the project had received to date.

“We're getting great support locally with almost 1500 on the Facebook group and 750 on Twitter and growing every day.”