Joe Brown Park in Eastern New Orleans is still closed nearly four years after Hurricane Katrina. (Dale W.Clarke II / NYT Institute)

Some New Orleans children may have to wait until next summer to have a safe place to play.

Of the 125 playgrounds in the New Orleans area before Hurricane Katrina, only 90 have reopened.  And even some of those playgrounds aren’t safe yet; city officials say they don’t expect all the repairs to playgrounds to be finished until next summer.

The City Council Youth and Recreation Committee met Friday to assess the progress made on reopening the New Orleans recreational facilities that have been closed since the hurricane.  The meeting was a continuation of an April 7 discussion among city officials, the  New Orleans Recreational Department and Federal Emergency Management Agency.

With summer right around the corner, some Youth and Recreation Committee council members stressed the importance of getting as many playgrounds and recreational facilities open as possible.

Nearly every playground has at least been assigned an architect, said capital projects administrator William Chrisman, but many of the playgrounds still need fencing, lighting and repairs to shelters, among other things. The estimated cost to design, plan and construct the remaining facilities is $70 million.

A number of playgrounds also haven’t reopened because they are former Federal Emergency Management Agency trailer sites. As recently as last year, 15 parks were still being used for trailers. But Bob Josephson, director of external affairs for FEMA, said the June 17 deadline to turn 11 remaining areas back over to the New Orleans Recreational Department would be met on all but two playgrounds.

Josephson also said that once the rebuilding of the recreational facilities is complete, residents would have state-of-the art equipment that will be, in many cases, better than what they had, pre-Katrina.

“We’ve put in a substantial investment to ensure that these parks aren’t just going to get back equipment you had, and I don’t want you to lose sight of that,” Josephson said at the meeting.

Larry Barabino Jr., director of New Orleans Recreation Department, noted the large amount of progress and growth the department has seen since 2005. Katrina destroyed nearly all of New Orleans’ recreational facilities, he said. In 2006, only four pools and eight playgrounds were opened, compared to the 10 pools that will open this summer and the 90 playgrounds currently in operation.

“We’re definitely coming back,” Barabino said.

But frustrated residents voiced concerns that the progress he spoke of was not evident in the playgrounds in their neighborhoods.

The Rev. Kaseem Short, executive director of the Gert Town Community Center, spoke on behalf of Norwood Thompson Playground and the Gert Town pool.  Short said that the area is only “somewhat useable and in a sense has been neglected.”

“The park is not up to standards,” he said. “It’s a real concern for the community.”

Katherine Prevost of the Upper Ninth Ward was disheartened that none of the four playgrounds in her neighborhood are open, even though they were promised FEMA funding to reopen them.

“We have been fighting to get some parks back in our neighborhood and they’re making it really hard,” Prevost said.

“We understand that the recreation department is under a lot of pressure, but our kids really need somewhere to play,” she said.

Having grown up using the city’s recreational facilities, Barabino said he understands the sentiment of the residents and that rebuilding is a priority.

A tentative follow-up meeting for the Youth and Recreation Committee, the recreation department, the city of New Orleans and FEMA has been scheduled for June.