Free swimming pool draws growing crowds in Kurikka

Visitor numbers have increased this summer at the free Närvijoki outdoor swimming pool in Jurva, Kurikka, Yle reports. The pool is maintained by the Närvijoki village association, which has developed the surrounding area into a leisure centre.

The centre includes a kiosk restaurant, a motorhome area, a village house available for accommodation, a children’s playground, fitness stairs, a small sauna and a smoke sauna. The smoke sauna is heated at least on the first Friday of every month for a public smoke sauna evening.

The smoke sauna is currently undergoing a small renovation to expand the sauna area, said Juha Pukkala, chair of the village association’s board.

The pool is heated, allowing swimming from spring onwards. Kurikka city has also held swimming lessons there for several summers.

Jonna Laitala, a board member of the village association, said free admission was the pool’s biggest attraction.

“Everything costs money these days, so it is really great that we can maintain this with volunteers,” Laitala said.

The area has been actively developed over the past six years. Artificial grass has been installed around the pool, making it easier to keep clean.

The activities are funded through voluntary support payments, events and sales at the kiosk and restaurant. The saunas, village house and motorhome area are also rented out, said Anniina Långskog of the village association’s board.

About 200,000 euros in Leader and vitality centre funding has been received for development and construction work over the past six years.

Pukkala said the funding should continue because it helps keep the countryside active. New residents have also moved to the village, he said, adding that houses put up for sale have found new families.

Henriikka Piiroinen from Helsinki visits the pool with her family several times each summer while holidaying in her mother’s home region in Jurva. The family visits the centre regardless of the weather.

Piiroinen said the pool was clean, well maintained and safer for children who were still developing their swimming skills than dark open water.

The family visits the leisure centre several times during their stays in Jurva, sometimes even twice in one day. In the evening, they return to the kiosk to eat and meet local residents.

Piiroinen said the pool also attracts many visitors from outside the area. Compared with outdoor pools in Helsinki, she described Närvijoki as quieter, cleaner and having a different atmosphere.

A seasonal worker has taken care of the outdoor areas and cleanliness at the leisure centre this summer. The village association has received positive feedback about cleanliness and wants to maintain that standard.

Pukkala said an event attended by just under 400 people left only one small piece of litter behind.

Närvijoki was named South Ostrobothnia’s village of the year in 2024 and received an honourable mention in the national Village of the Year 2025 competition.

Kurikka’s Jurva district also has outdoor swimming pools in Sarvijoki and Niemenkylä, although they are used less. Nearby Pirttikylä in the neighbouring municipality of Närpiö has a fourth outdoor pool.

In Kokkola in Central Ostrobothnia, visitor numbers at the outdoor pool belonging to the Vesiveijari swimming centre were at the same level in June and July as last year. Around 38,000 swimmers visited during the first two months of the summer season in both years.