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NEDERLAND — The Nederland Parks and Recreation Department is making headway in several projects while maintaining its usual summer schedule.

Parks and Recreation Director Angela Fanette said the pool has been a popular site with the current heat wave.

“The pool has been hopping,” she said. “It is open Wednesday through Saturday 1-7 (p.m.). It is open 1-5 (p.m.) on Sunday. We have had some very hot sunny days. We offer open recreation time at the Nederland Recreation Center between 10 (a.m.) and 8 (p.m.) Monday through Thursday. We are also open Friday 10 (a.m.) to 5 (p.m.) and Saturday 11(a.m.) to 5 (p.m.). That is basically for kids. For the pool, they must be at least 14 years old to visit without a parent. That is a state standard.”

For the recreation center, children need to be 12 or older to participate.

There are no fees for Nederland residents to go to the rec. Parents simply sign up their children on the first visit.

“We have ping pong, pool, they can hang out in the game room and enjoy some air conditioning,” Fanette said. “We have an open gym policy for the summertime.”

The director said the department also has several projects in the works.

“We have one playground that is going to be installed,” she said. “We have placed the order and waiting for it to come in. Most play equipment is at an 18-24 weeks out. It is the same thing for air conditioning repair. We are fine with the ACs in the gym, but we had some issues. They told me parts are 18 weeks out. I think everyone is facing that.”

Fanette said the department also has plans to revamp the pool area after the season concludes.

“We are going to be rehabbing the pool deck,” she said. “That is another project. At Tex Ritter Park, we will be doing lighting upgrades. We just had council solicit bids for that. We are also looking at what to do with our pond at Doornbos Park. The wall of the pond has had some structural issues and we are going to be looking at that with an engineering firm to determine how to move forward. Of course, there is some drainage stuff associated with that pond so we want to make sure we do it once and done right.”

Fanette said the department is still in the planning stages of installing a half court basketball court at Cropo LeBlanc Park.

“We are working our way down to some of these projects,” she said. “We are still moving forward with that. A lot of our plans are just taking a lot longer than we anticipated. We have additional things come up that we have had to look at and make the right plans for.”

The city will also host its Fourth of July Fireworks event. Fanette said for more information on the event, people should download Sky Wonder Pyrotechnics app.