Princeton Summer Camps Canceled Due To Coronavirus

PRINCETON, NJ — The coronavirus is beginning to impact the summer season in Princeton as the Recreation Department has canceled summer camps for this year.

Camps canceled include the Day Camp and Teen Travel Camp along with the Bluefish Swim & Dive Team due to the coronavirus, the department announced Tuesday. Full refunds will be issued to anyone that had already registered for camps, Executive Director of Recreation Ben Stentz said.

"On a personal note, I want to share my sadness with you about this difficult decision. While I do believe this is the safest decision on behalf of the children of our community, it doesn't make it any easier to accept. I was a camper at the PRD Day Camp nearly 35 years ago, and later I worked as a Camp Counselor. Years later, my son attended both Day and Travel Camp. PRD camps are a critical rite of passage for our kids and part of the year over year, and generation to generation fabric of what makes Princeton special," Stentz said.

Stentz said this decision was made in collaboration with the Princeton Recreation Commission, Recreation Dept. staff, Princeton Health officials, Princeton Police/Emergency Management officials, and Princeton Elected officials.

"The Recreation Dept. staff is already well into planning a variety of alternate programs for summer 2020 that may include some virtual programming, some hybrid (virtual and in-person) programming, and hopefully some additional in-person programming for later in the summer when we think we can do so safely," Stentz said. "We are also collaborating with other community organizations and agencies to partner on some new programming ideas that will fit within the myriad of restrictions and operational challenges that the current public health crisis presents."

As far as Community Park Pool, the opening — which is normally slated for Memorial Day weekend — was pushed back to June 13. However, Stentz says that date is "no longer feasible."

The recreation department plans to reevaluate the feasibility of a 2020 pool season no later than June 15. At that point they will either announce a modified pool schedule to begin on or around July 15, or announce that CP Pool will not open in 2020.

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