A swimming pool has been planned for Lasnamäe, next to Tondiraba Ice Hall, since 2019. The multi-purpose sports center will include sports halls and a spa, but its most important facility will be a swimming pool meeting Olympic standards.

Miroslav Berezovski, the Center Party mayor of the Lasnamäe district, said there will be a 50-meter pool and a 25-meter pool with training facilities.

National swimming team head coach Toni Meijel said swimmers have been eagerly awaiting a pool of this size as there has been little opportunity to use one so far.

"For years, or even decades, we have been trying to compete with countries that have more swimming pools than we do, so the training conditions are not comparable," Meijel said.

"There is very little opportunity or experience of training in a long-course pool. We have many children whose very first long-course competition experience comes at the Estonian Championships," he explained.

Last week, Tallinn launched an international public procurement process to find a developer for a planned Olympic-sized swimming pool in the capital.

Former mayor Jevgeni Ossinovski said the project, which was halted during his time in office, is now being handed over to a single company. He said that the public interest may not be safeguarded in the process.

"The good old Center Party days are back. Every time a somewhat significant decision is made, it smells like a criminal case. This is clearly about handing nearly €20 million of taxpayers' money to one businessman," Ossinovski said.

Berezovski said the city will support the project with €20 million through a concession agreement, under which the city will set conditions for the quality of the swimming pool and its public use.

"The city is not the operator. If there is a spa component, then that belongs to the private sector. They will also assume the responsibility of running and operating the swimming pool," Berezovski said.

Ossinovski disagreed, arguing that there is a big difference between a privately run spa business and sports infrastructure, the latter being the responsibility of the local authority to maintain.

"How is the city's interest protected in the sense that this swimming pool will remain accessible to our residents, schoolchildren, and, in addition, of course, professional athletes for both training and competitions?" Ossinovski asked.

Berezovski said access for schools will be guaranteed.

The procurement deadline is October 1, and the building is expected to be completed by the end of 2029.

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