NEW ORLEANS — Residents on the West bank have been calling for more swimming pools for years. Now, finally, parents will be able to tell their kids to grab their towels for a pool day.
Congressman Troy Carter announced there will soon be a pool in Lower Algiers.
Pastor Walter Byes was born in the Cut Off of Algiers, as a child he always dreamed of going swimming in a pool in his community.
Pastor Byes said, "There's been a need in this community for 60-70 years." He went on to say, "A lot swam in the river... People even drowned in the river there was never a pool in this area."
He says many in the Lower Algiers community felt forgotten as metro New Orleans continued to expand and services were only being offered on the East bank. Pastor Byes said, "Algiers got left out, but we're finally getting recognition."
That recognition is a new swimming pool.
Congressman Troy Carter announced $4 million in funding for an indoor swimming facility.
The congressman said, "This community has been very patient for its entirety of its existence, there has never been a swimming pool at all." He went on to say, "You saw the kids sitting out here with their eyes like Christmas morning, one of the kids said 'Will this check get us a pool?' I said yes baby it will."
The congressman says it'll offer water aerobics and recreational swimming, Pastor Byes said.
"Not only for the young people my wife is a water aerobic specialist... It will be needed and used by everyone in the community."
The vacant block of land by the Cut Off gym will soon be a pool, the renderings for the pool are currently in the works. That means this Algiers community could soon keep cool in the summer.
Michael Willis is from Algiers, he says after Hurricane Katrina outlets for kids were lost. Willis said, "To see this coming back for the future generation it's very exciting." A father to seven, and grandfather to six, he says having a pool will keep the youth engaged.
"Now they will have a place and a purpose to come somewhere and burn that energy out that's beautiful for us right now," he said.
The pool's opening date is yet to be set.
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