Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly on Tuesday announced that all Youth & Family Development centers and all city senior centers will reopen on June 1 and return to their normal operating schedule.
Under the safe reopening plan presented to city council members, the Warner Park Pool and Splashpad will open on May 29, while summer camps and all remaining pools will open on June 7. Extended hours until 8:30 p.m. will begin June 7 at the Carver, Eastdale, South Chattanooga and Washington Hills YFD centers.
The safe reopening plan puts in place measures to ensure social distancing, enhanced cleaning, and limited capacity as per CDC guidelines, and completes the reopening of substantially all of the city’s community resources.
“I’m grateful that our residents will now have the opportunity to safely enjoy our city’s most popular services after more than a year of closure,” Kelly said. “But to ensure these services remain available, it’s critical that our city’s residents take responsible precautions and get vaccinated to protect themselves and others around them. We will emerge stronger from this pandemic, but it will require all of us to work together, as Chattanoogans so often do, to maintain our momentum.”
Summer camps with registration required will begin June 7 at the following YFD centers:
- Avondale
- Brainerd
- Carver
- Hixson
- John A Patten
- South Chattanooga
Drop-in Summer camps with no prior registration requirement will begin June 7 at the following YFD centers on a first-come, first-served basis:
- Eastdale
- Shepherd
- Washington Hills
- Westside
COVID protocols will be in place at all facilities:
- Pools will be limited to 75% capacity
- Registered summer camps limited to 75 children per camp
- Drop-in summer camps will be limited based on location capacity with social distancing
- Senior centers and YFD centers will be limited based on location capacity with social distancing
- Masks required for unvaccinated adults
- Masks optional for children under 18 years of age
“We are monitoring vaccination and infection rates and will keep a close eye on safety as we reopen these critical community resources,” said Dr. Mary Lambert, the city’s director of community health. “We are a long way from herd immunity, and I would encourage all residents to get fully vaccinated as soon as possible so that Chattanooga can keep moving forward.”