NEW ORLEANS -- Fenced off and largely abandoned for years, Pontchartrain Beach will soon welcome back those looking for a place to enjoy the sun or take a dip on a hot summer day.
The Orleans Levee District on Thursday approved signing a lease with the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation that will allow the nonprofit to reopen the beach to the public, likely by next spring.
"In 1991 or '92 we had the first Back to the Beach (Festival)," said John Lopez, who works for the foundation. "This is truly back to the beach."
Lopez said the plan to reopen the beach has been in the works for years. While there won't be a full amusement park like the old Pontchartrain Beach, the latest incarnation fulfills the wishes of the public, he said.
"Basically what the public said they wanted was a natural beach," he said.
Nyka Scott, executive counsel for the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East, said she expects the lease to be signed in the coming weeks. The site is owned by the Levee District, which is overseen by the authority.
The one-year agreement will serve as something of a pilot program, she said. Once it expires, the Levee District and Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation have the option to extend the lease for another three years. Following that window, the parties can decide to again extend the lease or renegotiate it, Scott said.
The immediate plans for the sand beach include cleaning it and installing signage, Lopez said.
Signs will warn visitors that swimming will be done without the presence of a lifeguard.
Lopez said details such as operating hours are still being worked out, but that the beach likely would be open only during the daytime. "We look at this as a family venue, so we're looking at basically daytime-type activities," he said.
The beach will reopen in a simple fashion. There will be no new buildings, though portable toilets will be provided. The short-term plan is simply to make the area safe.
But, Lopez said, adding more features in the future is not out of the question.
"We're keeping our plans fairly modest," he said. "If we go through the initial phase … we may have the west end of the beach become a little more than a beach."
A grove of oak trees there could be a site for some minor development, such as a pavilion, he said. "Once again, fairly simple structures," he said.
Part of a fishing pier that juts into the lake will be rehabbed, using FEMA money, and there are plans to repair the rest of the pier if the funds can be found.
The lease calls for the foundation to pay a "nominal" fee — possibly a few hundred dollars a year — to take control of the space, Lopez said. That would relieve the Flood Protection Authority of responsibility for monitoring and maintaining that part of the lakefront.
The lakefront became a popular recreation spot in the mid-19th century as the city began to blossom. The actual sand beach was built in the 1930s and eventually grew into an amusement park that included popular rides such as the Wild Maus and Zephyr rollercoaster.
The park closed in 1983 and swimming was prohibited.
While the beach reopened a decade later, it was closed again in 2012 following two drownings.
Lopez said the plan to open the gates again has been widely welcomed.
"So far it's been very positive," he said of the public's reaction.
