Cranston won't offer summer rec programs

The city will not offer its traditional summer recreation programs this year, Mayor Allan Fung and Parks and Recreation Director Tony Liberatore announced Thursday.

“The decision to not offer the existing Playground, Arts and Crafts, Tennis and Living Arts programs came after an examination of whether these and other possible options could fit within the lens of the Rhode Island Department of Health and Human Services guidelines on summer camps,” reads a joint statement from the mayor’s office and the Parks and Recreation Department. “Unfortunately, we determined that the city could not run our programs to the quality that our residents have come to expect and deserve.”

The decision comes following an earlier decision, outlined in a June 1 executive order from Fung, to keep the Budlong Pool closed for the season. The mayor’s budget plan had included funding for a shortened pool season of roughly four weeks, but as with the summer programming, it was determined social distancing requirements made the facility’s opening unfeasible.

Thursday’s joint statement points to limitations on group sizes and concerns over a number of logistical issues as having led to the decision not to offer the seasonal programs this year.

“Parks and Recreation camps would not be allowed to operate as they have in the past as group sizes would be reduced to 15, which included staff,” the statement reads. “Plus, there would be no field trips, no Budlong Pool access, and other hallmarks that have drawn children to the programs. Additionally, the health and safety of our campers and counselors was of concern. The department found it especially difficult to hold camp during inclement weather or air quality alert days without access to the venues typically used for relief.”

“Summer is a time to make new friends and have new experiences,” Liberatore said in the statement. “Unfortunately, in this time of social distancing, Parks and Recreation would not be able to put together programming that encourages those attributes in anyway close to what we have been able to do in the past.”

“Many children, parents, and staff members look forward to the summer that is spent with friends, old and new, and engaged in new experiences each day,” Fung said in the statement. “It is heartbreaking to not be able gather in the ways we have previously and hope to be able to offer these programs again next summer.”