Dozens of families on Tuesday went to Curley Community Center with children in tow, some sporting swimsuits and towels, as city officials opened a summer program at the South Boston facility for the first time since a 7-year-old boy died there last week.
The drop-in day program resumed with some significant changes to how it operates, instituted by Mayor Martin J. Walsh following the death of Kyzr Willis, who went missing on the afternoon of July 26 and was later found in the water off Carson Beach.
At 7:09 p.m., the time at which Kyzr was declared dead a week ago, his family gathered in front of the Curley center to release purple and green balloons — the colors of the boy’s favorite TV show, “The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.’’
“If you knew Kyzr and saw him smile — if you had a bad day, your day was better,’’ said John Baker, his great-uncle. “Sometimes, words can’t explain the love we felt.’’
The balloons represented Kyzr’s soul flying high, his family said. As the balloons drifted into the evening sky, mourners lit candles to symbolize his light shining on earth. Kyzr’s mother and father did not attend, Baker said, because it was too difficult for them.
“We don’t know why it happened, we don’t know what happened,’’ said Kyzr’s cousin during the vigil. “We just know Kyzr is never coming back to us. Just pray.’’
On Tuesday morning, parents at the community center said they were saddened by the boy’s death, but unafraid to leave their children at the program.
John Somers said his 7-year-old twins, a boy and a girl, have been attending the camp for three years. He said he has “no misgivings at all’’ about returning. “I know a lot of the counselors here; they are very mature.’’ He said his kids “are extremely sad, confused’’ about the death.
“It’s just a very unfortunate, tragic accident,’’ Somers added. He said he appreciates the new safety measures, which he believes are “more than adequate.’’
The changes include a mandated head count every hour, a requirement that children wear life preservers while swimming, and set ratios of children to counselors. Under the new rules, every two counselors will oversee a maximum of 20 children 7 and older, or 10 children who are 6 and younger.
In addition, a staff member will be tasked with ensuring that children leave the center only if accompanied by an adult, and children will walk in line between activities, bookended by staff members. Thirty-four new security cameras were also set to be installed.
The Curley center had reopened last week to adults, as the director of the facility was placed on leave following the death, but the drop-in program for children had remained closed as officials put the changes in place.
Commissioner William Morales of Boston Centers for Youth & Families and Felix Arroyo, the city’s chief of Health and Human Services, were on hand to greet children as the day began.
Sandy Holden, a spokeswoman for BCYF, which runs the camp, said at least 35 children attended, along with 27 counselors. She said she was not sure whether children would be able to swim at the beach on Tuesday.
The agency held a meeting with parents and staff Monday night to go over new protocols.
Krista O’Toole dropped her 8-year-old son off at about 10:30 a.m. She used to work at the Curley center as a teen.
She was not worried about her son returning to the camp, and she appreciated the new regulations.
However, she said she was heartbroken by the death of the boy, and concerned about the efforts to find him after he went missing at about 2:15 p.m. on July 26. After an hours-long search, Quincy’s harbor patrol located him at about 6 p.m.
“I saw the mother outside at 3 p.m.,’’ she said. “I can’t get that out of my head.’’
Andy Rosen of the Globe staff contributed to this report. Miguel Otárola can be reached at miguel.otarola@globe.com. Evan Allen can be reached at evan.allen@globe.com.
