Tuten Park — closed for the past 32 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the natural disasters of 2020 — reopened Monday to the delight of children across Southwest Louisiana.

Lake Charles Mayor Nic Hunter said the park sustained $300,000 in damages to the front portion of the park and more than 90 percent of the trees on the property were lost. Fencing, concrete walking paths, canopies and park amenities were also damaged.

Hunter said some repairs are still underway while the city seeks reimbursements from its insurance provider and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

“We do feel like the park is put back together enough where we want to have a ribbon cutting today, and introduce this amenity back to the public,” he said. “We will continue to put the final touches on the park, but, again, we are thrilled to reopen this park today.”

Work is currently underway to reopen the back portion of the park.

“We’re in the preliminary stages of creating scope of work to clean up and reopen the back trails,” Hunter said, adding it will take time to restore that area of the park. “In order to preserve the natural green space and wildlife habitats, a measured and methodical approach is appropriate and must be taken to restore this portion of the park.”

Hunter thanked the city’s corporate partner for the Tuten and Riverside parks, Sasol.

“Sasol has been one of the greatest partners,” he said. “It seems that every time we have an opportunity to have something really positive happen … Sasol has always been there.”

“We are honored to be a part of improving the city’s parks and green spaces,” said Eric Walker, Sasol’s vice president of operations. “We believe that minimizing our environmental footprint, while also protecting biodiversity is important. It’s just the right thing to do.”

Walker said Sasol will continue to work alongside the city to complete repairs in Tuten Park and relaunch the Nature in Focus educational series.

“Sasol is committed to improving infrastructure and providing quality educational programming for the city of Lake Charles and is proud to support Tuten and Riverside Parks through the Partners in Parks Initiative,” he said.

The relaunch of the Nature in Focus educational series was also announced.

“We want our parks to be living, breathing vessels of programs for the community,” Hunter said.

The Nature in Focus series was previously very successful, according to Hunter. “Nature in Focus has been a wonderful series,” he said.

There are three sessions planned. Hunter said depending on the success of the upcoming events, there will be opportunities to host more.

“We wanted to dip our toes back into the water, since it’s been dormant really since COVID,” he explained. “So, assuming that these three are successful, we will have more.”

The series will be relaunched after the new year with “The Mighty Importance of Trees,” on Jan. 14 at Tuten Park. The next session, “Love Nature in your Own Backyard,” will also take place in Tuten Park on Feb. 11. The final class, “Reptile and Birding Exploration,” will be in Riverside Park on March 18. The times for the sessions are still to be determined.