Lake Charles Mayor Nic Hunter said he understands the public being frustrated with parks throughout Southwest Louisiana not being fully open since Hurricane Laura’s landfall nearly two years ago. However, all but one of the 30-plus parks and recreational facilities managed by the city should be fully repaired by the end of this year.

Outdoor spaces are open at nearly all city parks, with a few exceptions, such as the still-closed Tuten Park on Nelson Road. Community centers, pavilions and restrooms at facilities like Bellard, Jesse D. Clifton and Lock parks remain closed until repairs can be done.

Hunter said the city is willing to spend money on repairing its parks, and the delays mainly lie with the city not receiving bids on a project from at least three different contractors as required by FEMA. Last March, the city received only one bid on a package of park repairs. No bids came back on other park repair packages last July and in January.

“We’re literally begging contractors to bid on this work, and it’s just been a really tough environment post-storm for a lot of reasons with contractors,” he said. “A lot of the work people are complaining about would have at least been underway if we hadn’t had this situation.”

Securing contractors is also challenging because other government agencies are bidding out repair work on their facilities, City Administrator John Cardone said.

“There’s more work out there, and there’s probably not enough labor force to handle all of it,” he said. “I think everyone is experiencing this, not just the city of Lake Charles.”

The City Council is set to accept bids at its May 4 meeting on what Hunter called the “last biggest piece of work” remaining at city-managed parks and recreational facilities. Mike Huber, city project specialist, said the bid package covers a variety of repairs specific to each facility and ranges from replacing trash cans to repairing pavilions and replacing electrical and lighting.

“God willing, we will receive bids,” the mayor said.

Everything needed to get city parks and recreation facilities fully repaired is already underway or part of the package up for council consideration May 4, Hunter said. Purple Heart Memorial Park on Avenue H will remain closed for a longer stretch of time because it suffered extensive damage from the hurricanes.

The city has invested more than $12.45 million on park repairs since Hurricane Laura’s August 2020 landfall, Hunter said. Another $7 million will be needed to get those facilities fully renovated. The bulk of that spending is expected to have a 90 FEMA reimbursement, he said.

“There has never been a situation or conversation at City Hall that we needed to delay progress on these parks because of us not having money in the bank to accomplish those tasks,” Hunter said. “I by no means want people to think that zero work has happened on the parks over the last year and a half.”

Hunter said the city went out for bids to repair the community center at Jesse D. Clifton because it was regularly used before the hurricanes.

“Thankfully, we did get enough bids to where work is ongoing to rehab that facility,” he said.

The City Council allocated funding in its current fiscal year budget for the Hurricane Laura Disaster Fund, City Finance Director Emily McDaniel said. The current budget anticipates $30 million in expenditures, with some of those funds going toward repairs to parks and recreational facilities, as well as buildings and other infrastructure, she said. The city is seeking 90 percent reimbursement from FEMA on these costs.

Hunter said repairs already paid for by the city would have taken longer had its finances not been in order.

“There are other communities that didn’t have the healthy reserves we had,” he said. “When they went through disasters like this, they literally had to go borrow money to turn the lights on and make payroll.”

Cardone said that city staff had to go with architects and evaluate the damages at each park. Work packages that are put out for bid must follow specific FEMA guidelines and public bid laws.

“There’s more to it than saying, ‘Go fix your park,’ ” he said.

Hunter said the city has various Partners in Parks programs scheduled over the coming months to provide the community with outdoor activities and offset the recreation centers that are still closed.

The city and Sasol are hosting a Tuten Park community open house from 5-7 p.m. March 30 at 3801 Nelson Road. Residents can hear options for redesigning the park.

Separate from the city, Ward 3 Recreation manages another 12 facilities. Some include Huber and University parks, Enos Derbonne Sports Complex, and the Pryce/Miller Community Center.