The Lower 9th Ward is celebrating the opening of a new, state-of-the-art community center this week. The Sanchez Community Center replaces a slightly smaller community center that was destroyed in the flooding following Hurricane Katrina. Located at the corner of Caffin and Claiborne across the street from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary and Middle School and a branch of the New Orleans Public Library, the Center will serve multiple needs in the community.

The two-story, 65,000 square foot center has a performance stage, commercial kitchen, dance studio, music and art rooms, a game room, senior center, computer lab, a 25m indoor pool, and regulation-size basketball court. The Center houses a New Orleans Police Department substation and a health clinic to provide services like vaccinations, wellness exams, and sexually transmitted infection testing. The clinic will also serve as a resource to new mothers and their children.

Events at the Center are already rolling. The final Senior Choir Concert of the season is being held there on June 5 at 6pm. They are also offering piano lessons from June 15-August 7-- pertinent not only to fill the need and interest from the community, but also because the Center is less than four blocks from Fats Domino's old home!

Open now, the pool hours are:

Monday through Friday 8am to 8pm
Saturday 9am-4pm
Sunday 2-6pm

The Rec Center hours are:

Monday through Friday 10am to 9pm
Saturday 9am-2pm
Sunday Closed

http://www.nola.gov/nordc/facilities/andrew-p-sanchez/