- Joined
- Jan 20, 2014
- Messages
- 400
- Reaction score
- 894
- Points
- 93
- Location
- Kamp-Lintfort/Germany
- Website
- www.tomvandutch.de
The "Red Banner" swimming complex (also called "Red Flag") is located southeast of the center and is a huge sports center that has been abandoned since 2012.
"Red Banner" was built for the 17th European Swimming Championships in 1985 and was the largest and most modern swimming facility in the Balkans at the time of its completion.
The complex had two outdoor (Olympic pool and diving pool) and three indoor pools (Olympic pool, diving pool and a children's pool), as well as numerous other facilities, including a physiotherapy center, a gymnasium, an acrobatic hall, a press room and a hotel. Two stands, one indoors and one outdoors, could each accommodate 2,000 spectators.
"Red Banner" continued to be used for water sports after the end of the European Championships. But like so many buildings in Bulgaria built during the country's socialist period, the complex began to suffer from a lack of money and therefore care in the late 1980s and early 1990s, shortly after the fall of communism. The complex was renovated in 2009, but the work carried out was poor and by 2012 the complex was no longer usable and was officially closed in 2015.
The sports center has been abandoned since this date. Over the years, everything that wasn't nailed down was stolen. There is a lot of graffiti and the condition has steadily deteriorated.
There were once plans for the entire complex.
However, nothing has come of it to date.
According to a 2022 report, there are government-backed plans to renovate the site to its original form and make it fully functional again. However, another news outlet has stated that a brand new sports complex will be built on the site of the current one and that funds for the project would come from private investments. The site is currently managed by the Ministry of Sports, which took it over from the Ministry of Defense in 2011.
Michael Groß won 6 gold medals at these European Championships and swam a world record in the 200m freestyle.
At the moment the buildings are just rotting away.
"Red Banner" was built for the 17th European Swimming Championships in 1985 and was the largest and most modern swimming facility in the Balkans at the time of its completion.
The complex had two outdoor (Olympic pool and diving pool) and three indoor pools (Olympic pool, diving pool and a children's pool), as well as numerous other facilities, including a physiotherapy center, a gymnasium, an acrobatic hall, a press room and a hotel. Two stands, one indoors and one outdoors, could each accommodate 2,000 spectators.
"Red Banner" continued to be used for water sports after the end of the European Championships. But like so many buildings in Bulgaria built during the country's socialist period, the complex began to suffer from a lack of money and therefore care in the late 1980s and early 1990s, shortly after the fall of communism. The complex was renovated in 2009, but the work carried out was poor and by 2012 the complex was no longer usable and was officially closed in 2015.
The sports center has been abandoned since this date. Over the years, everything that wasn't nailed down was stolen. There is a lot of graffiti and the condition has steadily deteriorated.
There were once plans for the entire complex.
However, nothing has come of it to date.
According to a 2022 report, there are government-backed plans to renovate the site to its original form and make it fully functional again. However, another news outlet has stated that a brand new sports complex will be built on the site of the current one and that funds for the project would come from private investments. The site is currently managed by the Ministry of Sports, which took it over from the Ministry of Defense in 2011.
Michael Groß won 6 gold medals at these European Championships and swam a world record in the 200m freestyle.
At the moment the buildings are just rotting away.
