Mid City residents rejoiced Wednesday, as water flowed into the Stallings Gentilly Pool on Lapeyrouse Street. The public pool, which has been off limits since the pandemic began, is scheduled to reopen next week.
Stallings Gentilly is one of nine outdoor pools taking reservations for 45-minute swim sessions starting Monday. The pool will remain open for 12-weeks with limited hours and capacity.
The city’s summer camp also starts Monday and it’s summer reading program is already in full swing.
Aquatics
The following outdoor pools are set to reopen June 7 and close Aug. 28. Year-round pools will also be open.
Outdoor Pools
A.L. Davis Pool, 2600 La Salle St.
Lemann Pool, 1971 Lafitte St.
Lyons Pool, 624 Louisiana Ave.
Pradat Pool, 7200 Dreux St.
Rosenwald Pool, 1120 S. Broad St.
Sampson Pool, 3100 Louisa St.
Stallings Gentilly Pool, 2700 Lapeyrouse St.
Stallings St. Claude Pool 4300 St. Claude St.
Whitney Young Pool, 6500 Magazine St.
Indoor Pools
Gert Town Pool, 3411 Broadway St.
Joe W. Brown Pool, 5601 Read Blvd.
Sanchez Pool, 1616 Caffin St.
Treme Pool, 900 N. Villere St.
Sessions are available for open swim, lap swim, water aerobics and swim lessons. Due to COVID-19, lessons will only be offered at Lyons, Stallings Gentilly and Treme pools.
Reservations are no longer required for open swim sessions on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Register for all other times here.
Youth And Teen Camps
This summer the New Orleans Recreation Development Commission is offering 22 youth camps and a career program for teenagers. They expect to serve nearly 2,400 kids.
It’s a slight increase from last year’s offerings, but still down from a typical year when NORD camps would enroll upwards of 5,000 kids.
Youth camps begin June 7 and end July 30. Spaces are still available and registration will remain open until all camps are filled.
Camps will practice social distancing and limit contact activities. COVID-19 precautions include lower occupancy rates and smaller group sizes. The city’s mask mandate remains in place for anyone who is unvaccinated. Children 12 years and old are eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
NORD’s teen camp has two sessions this summer. The first will run from June 7 to June 25 and the second from June 28 to July 16.
The camp offers career exploration and job preparation as well as financial literacy training. Meals are provided and students receive a participation stipend of $450 at the end of camp if they attend all 15 days. Pre-registration is online as long as spots are available.
“While some parents are hesitant due to COVID, many are excited about having their children and teens participate in some summer recreation,” NORD Communication Director Ashlei Morrison said in an emailer this week. “It is typical for parents to register close to the deadline each year.”
“In the last few days, we have seen an increase in traffic to our summer camp web pages and anticipate enrollment numbers to reflect that throughout the summer,” she said. “We may not fill up all camps but many of our camps will reach full capacity.”
You can find NORD’s full recreation guide here.
Summer Reading Programs
While most New Orleans public schools are offering children in-person or virtual summer learning opportunities, families can sign-up for additional literacy activities through the city’s public library.
New Orleans Public Library kicked off its virtual summer programming earlier this month, which includes events, activities and an ongoing reading challenge.
Sessions include virtual zoo visits, drag queen story times, manga book clubs and mushroom growing workshops, according to a library press release.
