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NORD warns staffing and budget cuts could reduce pool hours, program capacity
Summary
New Orleans Recreation Department (NORD) officials said state bond funds and reused Super Bowl turf financed stadium renovations but that proposed budget cuts and a hiring freeze risk reduced pool hours, fewer lifeguards and cuts to programming in 2026.
Larry Barabino (presenting on behalf of NORD) said NORD used surplus turf from Super Bowl LIX to renovate five baseball stadiums and that those renovations, plus state and bond funds, underwrite several capital projects. "So now today, NORD have 5 state of the art baseball stadiums that's ready for not only NORD's uses, but high school boys and baseball and softball, as well as, collegiate," he said. Barabino also highlighted the department's plans to replace the Joe Brown running track and to add two standalone splash pads at the Cutoff and Velazio/Lehi locations.
Barabino and his staff told council members that NORD's personnel numbers dropped sharply in the 2026 budget proposal. NORD reported 292.36 positions in 2025 and a proposed 215.01 positions for 2026, a change the presentation attributed…
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