Could Pontchartrain Beach be reopening? It’s something that many people are asking.
Dozens of children were enjoying the 4th of July holiday by taking a dip in Lake Pontchartrain. There is a small area of sand but most people have to get in the water by taking the stairs.
“It would be awesome to have a beach out here because the steps are a little hard to walk on,” resident Tony Mendez said.
For more than four decades there was a beach on the lakefront, but in 1983 Pontchartrain Beach, along with an amusement park, shut down. The attraction reopened for swimming only about a decade later but then closed again in 2012 after two drownings were reported.
Many people on the Lakefront for the holiday remember the good times at the beach.
“Everybody liked to come out get on the rides... it just was a lot of fun,” one resident said.
“Everybody remembers the Zephyr, it was a terrifying ride, hang out and have a good time,” another resident said.
Years ago, there were talks and even plans to reopen Pontchartrain Beach. In 2016, after months of donations, the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation raised enough money to get sand to the area. However, two years later, not much has changed.
People who grew up with Pontchartrain Beach and those who never saw it can agree on one thing – they want a beach in New Orleans.
“That would be awesome if you only had to go 5 minutes (to the beach)” resident Jeff Hill said.