The Baltimore City Council?s Education, Housing, Health and Services Committee passed a resolution on Tuesday to keep recreation centers in the city open until at least 10 p.m. during summer months.
“As a city, it is our responsibility to do our best to take care of unsupervised children,” said Council Member Belinda Conaway, D-District 7, and sponsor of the resolution.
The Department of Recreation and Parks wants to keep 14 of the city?s 46 recreation centers open late to keep children off the streets while they are not in school.
“We customarily offer day camps that end at 6 p.m.,” said Portia Harris, associate director of the bureau of recreation.
But she said she hopes to create a program in which at least one recreation center in each city district will stay open later during the summer.
Harris said the parks department implemented a similar extended hours program in 2003, but that this year they do not have sufficient funds to do so.
The cost of the 10 recreation centers that stayed open later in summer 2003 was approximately $85,000, Harris said. This year, the parks department wants to extend the program to 14, which will increase the cost to at least $100,000.
“I?m hoping we will try to utilize anyone and everyone we have available” to fund and implement the program, Conaway said.
Angela Gibson, a representative from Mayor Martin O?Malley?s office, said that when the resolution goes before the entire council, she will return with a response about the amount of money the mayor sees fit to allocate for the program.
“We will get back to you about what can be done,” she said before the committee. “I don?t have a checkbook.”
The resolution will be heard before the full body of the council on July 10.
