“Each day that passed, we spent the equivalent of ten days of electricity”
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It’s hard to imagine the effervescence of April at the Aquapolis, the aquatic center of Limoges. The Olympic basin then hosted the French swimming championships. Among the 600 swimmers: Florent Manaudou, Charlotte Bonnet…
Five months later, change of atmosphere. The lanes are hopelessly empty. Just like the slides and play areas. The explanation is given, at the entrance to the site, in a message as clear as it is unexpected. “Due to the energy crisis, your aquatic center is temporarily closed. »
The company Vert Marine, which operates the equipment by delegation of public service, announced on September 4, in a press release, its closure for an indefinite period. The argument? “Rises in the cost of energy. » “Between July and September, we went from 250 euros per megawatt hour to 1,000 euros, it’s untenable”justifies Thierry Chaix, the president of the group created in 1992.
“We had to stop the escalation”
For the Aquapolis, the additional cost has been estimated at 1 million euros for 2022. “Each day that passed, we spent the equivalent of ten days of electricity. We had to stop the escalation”, continues Mr. Chaix. Hence a brutal decision, far from being isolated. At the same time, Vert Marine, manager of 80 aquatic centers and ice rinks for communities, closed around thirty sites in France: in Versailles, Granville (Manche), Montauban, Nîmes…
Out of 2,000 employees, 600 are now on partial unemployment. Including 70 in Limoges, where the staff, asked to stay at home overnight, accuses the blow. “After Covid-19, this is our third closure in two years. It’s hard, when we were ready for this start of the school year “deplores Claude Tourtois, the director of the Aquapolis.
“An unacceptable unilateral choice”
On the spot, the news took everyone by surprise. The community, Limoges Métropole, was informed by email on the evening of September 2. “We were presented with a fait accompli, plague Fabien Doucet, vice-president in charge of major equipment. This is an unacceptable unilateral choice. » On the public side, the pupils of 270 classes and the members of 13 swimming, diving and water polo clubs are in the dark.
Limoges Métropole and Vert Marine are looking for common ground. “We are not going to write a blank check without supporting documents in front”, warns the elected Fabien Doucet. He hopes for an immediate reopening of the equipment, which accumulates 450,000 entries on average per year (excluding the Covid period). “We wanted to create an electric shockdefends Mr. Chaix, in order to find solutions to pass the course. »
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