Bishkek City Council has announced a tender for the design of an Olympic swimming pool at the Kozhomkul Sports Palace

Bishkek City Council has announced a procurement procedure for the development of design and cost estimate documentation for the project ‘Olympic Swimming Pool at the Kaba Uulu Kozhomkul Sports Palace’.

According to the tender specifications, the cost of the works is 15,725,646 KGS, with a completion period of 180 calendar days from the date of handover of the initial data, with the option of early completion.

The project envisages a modern sports complex featuring a main Olympic-standard 50-by-25-metre swimming pool with stands for approximately 1,200–1,800 spectators, complemented by a 25-metre training pool and a diving area. The project also provides for comprehensive facilities: changing rooms, showers, a medical unit, coaches’ rooms, dry swimming and training halls, massage and treatment rooms, a health bar, a kitchen, staff rooms and even hotel rooms for athletes. The structure itself will be multi-level, with technical, service and spectator areas designed for major competitions and daily training; in other words, it will not simply be a swimming pool, but a fully-fledged sports centre tailored to international standards and mass events.

This swimming pool is part of the ongoing renovation of the Kozhomkul Sports Palace. On 1 April, demolition work began in the area of the future swimming pool, and the municipality stated that the project aims to modernise the infrastructure and create state-of-the-art facilities for the development of water sports. The work is being carried out by the Capital Construction Department of Bishkek City Council.

The Kozhomkul Sports Palace is one of the capital’s most famous sports venues. The facility was commissioned in 1974, and during the Soviet era it housed an Olympic-standard swimming pool; according to reports, it remained in operation until 2006. The building also holds the status of an architectural monument of national significance.