On Monday, November 14, 2022, Lake Charles Mayor Nic Hunter was joined by representatives from Sasol and other community organizations to announce the reopening of Tuten Park (3801 Nelson Rd.) to the public.

Built on land donated to the City of Lake Charles by the Tuten Family in the late 1970s, Tuten Park is a 24-acre woodland park utilized as an educational and nature facility. A sanctuary for birds, wildlife, native flowers and trees, the park was significantly damaged by Hurricanes Laura and Delta.

City of Lake Charles staff, contractors and volunteers have worked countless hours to clear the downed trees and to begin the process of replanting and restoring the park’s natural tree canopy. 

“With its roots of being a community-built park, Tuten Park holds a special place in all our hearts,” said Mayor Nic Hunter. “We were deeply saddened to see the devastation caused by Hurricanes Laura and Delta and we are so appreciative of the numerous volunteers whose selfless service has brought us to the point we are at today, welcoming our community back to the park! We are thankful for Sasol, our Partner in Tuten and Riverside Parks, who is working in tandem with us to complete the restoration of Tuten and Riverside Parks as well as to relaunch the popular Nature in Focus educational series in January 2023.” 

“Sasol is committed to improving infrastructure and providing quality educational programming for the City of Lake Charles and is proud to support Tuten and Riverside Parks through the Partners in Parks Initiative,” added Sasol Vice President of Operations Eric Walker. “All of us were impacted by Hurricanes Laura and Delta, and we are honored to be a part of the restoration efforts. We are excited to continue our work with the City both to complete repairs on the back trails and relaunch the Nature in Focus educational series after the start of the New Year.”

Today’s ceremony celebrates the reopening of the front portion of the park and master planning is underway to begin work on restoring and reopening the back trails of the park. 

On January 14, 2023, the City of Lake Charles and Sasol will team up to relaunch the Nature in Focus educational series with a seminar titled The Mighty Importance of Trees. The time will be announced at a later date, however, the seminar is free and will take place at Tuten Park in conjunction with the Southwest Louisiana Master Naturalists and McNeese State University.

A complete list of Nature in Focus events for the first quarter of 2023 is available at www.cityoflakecharles.com/natureinfocus.