The city's only recreational facility is starting to see a huge rise in the number of people using it after it was able to fully reopen earlier this month.

Genesis Place first opened with some restrictions on June 14, the first time it had in months. Various COVID-19 shutdowns have seen the facility either partially or fully close as government mandates changed over the last year-and-a-half.

The centre was able to fully reopen on July 1, as the province hit stage three of its Open For Summer plan.

More than a month later, things appear to be returning to what they were in 2019.

"We're really surprised and I guess encouraged to actually see that our utilization has returned to, almost, pre-pandemic levels," said Manager at Genesis Place, Brad Anderson.

"I think a lot of people are excited to get back to some of their normal routines and get back into the pool with their families and having fun and forgetting about all the restrictions and everything in place that we've had for the last year and a half."

luded in the annual report to City Council which typically comes in early spring.

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