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NEDERLAND — The City of Nederland is reopening its recreation center under strict COVID-19 guidelines, limiting the amount of people using facilities at one time and requiring facemasks.

The center, located at 2301 Avenue H in Nederland, reopens Monday (Dec. 14) and will operate under a 2 to 6 p.m. schedule Monday through Thursday and 2 to 5 p.m. schedule on Fridays.

On the basketball court, city officials will only allow four people at one time. In the racquetball court, officials are allowing two people at a time. In the game room, there will be no more than six people allowed at one time.

The Nederland City Council unanimously approved the reopening regulations this week.

Usage is restricted to one hour per group, and patrons are required to wear masks in the building, similar to what is permitted by the City of Beaumont, Nederland City Manager Chris Duque said.

Walk-up use is planned for now, as reservations are not required.

“We’ll have to address it if we get more demand, but we always require (patrons) to sign in when they get there,” Duque said. “We keep logs of utilization. We’ll continue to do that, but for now it will not be appointment-driven.”

There are no age restrictions.

“We just want to emphasize we do have the equipment to keep things clean,” Duque said. “That is part of the staff’s training, to make sure we know how to safely use the cleaning equipment. That’s a heavy chemical, and you have to be wearing the proper PPE to spray it. We’ll be working to keep everything clean and the patrons and staff members safe.”

Hours at Marion & Ed Hughes Public Library remain the same, with patrons able to utilize the location’s amenities either in-person or through curbside service.

The library continues to stay open to the public from 1 to 9 p.m. Monday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday.

With the library open there is a limit to the number of patrons allowed inside at one time — 10.

The Nederland City Council is again scheduled to meet Monday (Dec. 14), the board’s final meeting of 2020.