Is it just me, or is there a lot of news to keep up with these days? In keeping with federal and state guidance for phase one business reopenings, lots of popular attractions in Shreveport-Bossier—including casinos, restaurants, some retail shops, and more—are preparing to reopen with restrictions in place for social distancing.

As the official destination blog of Shreveport-Bossier, 20×49.com wants to do everything that we can to help our local attractions get the word out. In that spirit, we’re gonna shut up now and do a fast-and-furious rundown of updates we’ve received in the past 24 hours. Ready?

This post was composed at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, May 13. Things may have changed by the time you read it.

The beautiful botanical gardens at R.W. Norton Art Gallery in Shreveport will reopen, with new hours and some restrictions, on Saturday, May 16.

R. W. Norton Art Gallery‘s Botanical Gardens will reopen to the public on Saturday, May 16, with new hours and some restrictions on entrances and exits. The best way to get the complete scoop on their new policies would be by reading their own post here, but the short version is: Their summer hours are now 4-8:30 p.m., Monday through Thursday, and 6:30 a.m.-8:30 p.m., Friday through Sunday. The gardens have two gates, and guests will only be able to enter through the gate on the south side of the building and exit through the gate on the north side. The museum has not reopened.

The IMAX Dome Theatre at Sci-Port Discovery Center in downtown Shreveport is the only one in Louisiana.

Sci-Port Discovery Center will reopen its IMAX Dome Theatre (the only one in Louisiana!) on May 29, with plans to reopen all areas on June 5. Social distancing will be observed in the IMAX Dome, with a 25% capacity rule in place that will limit the crowd size to 40 for each screening.

On May 29, 30 and 31, they’ll be offering $8 IMAX tickets to celebrate (that’s a great deal, and tickets will only be $4 for Sci-Port members), with the popular IMAX film Hubble screening at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. on May 29-31. If you haven’t seen Hubble, it is—in some critical estimations—one of the greatest films available in the IMAX format.

Shreveport Aquarium will reopen to the public, with restrictions in place for social distancing, on Monday, May 18.

Shreveport Aquarium will resume operations on Monday, May 18, with a few significant changes. Tickets will only be sold online (no walk-up tickets), face coverings are mandatory, and tactile experiences (such as the ones where you touch a jellyfish or stingray) will not be available, but guests can still observe these beautiful creatures without touching them. SALT Cafe will not reopen at this time.

Here’s Shreveport Aquarium’s own breakdown of their updates, which we recommend that anyone read before visiting.

Louisiana Boardwalk Outlets will reopen, with restrictions, on Friday, May 15.

Our friends at Louisiana Boardwalk Outlets report that they’ll be officially reopening on Friday, May 15, with abbreviated hours and lots of measures in place for public safety. New hours are 11 a.m.-7 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and 12-6 p.m. on Sunday. Here’s the lowdown, directly from Louisiana Boardwalk Outlets Marketing Manager Ashley Davis:

“We will have hand sanitizers throughout our property, a staff that will go around each hour and wipe down all handles, benches, and vending machines. All of our staff will be in face masks while on-site…some of our national retailers will remain closed at this time.”

There is a lot of rapid change taking place as Louisiana enters phase one of reopening, so we anticipate making lots of posts like this. As always, we’ll make every effort to insure that information posted here is accurate, but we strongly recommend checking-in with any local business before visiting. For lots more info on attractions, casinos, and restaurants in Shreveport-Bossier, visit www.Shreveport-Bossier.org.

Sign up for e-mail updates. There’s a lot going on. Sign up for the Shreveport-Bossier Convention and Tourist Bureau’s Getaways e-newsletter to stay in-the-know.

20×49.com is a publication of Shreveport-Bossier Convention and Tourist Bureau.