On April 4, Airdrie City Council approved the implementation of a temporary priority registration system at Genesis Place Recreation Centre for Airdrie and Rocky View County residents.
Today, the City confirmed that program will begin on Aug. 7 in the form of a temporary pilot project.
As per the pilot, residents of Airdrie and Rocky View County will be granted a four-day priority window when registering for programs at Genesis Place. Out-of-area users can access registration at the end of the four-day priority window.
According to a City of Airdrie press release, Genesis Place programs have observed a sharp increase in out-of-area residents' attendance, such as those travelling from Calgary, since the start of 2022.
Typically, out-of-area attendance ranges between 10 to 11 per cent of participants, the release stated. However, out-of-area program attendance has been rising to 25 per cent during the first quarter of 2022.
As council members hypothesized during their discussion in the spring, the recent increase in visitors from outside of Airdrie may be due to uncharacteristically low programming options at the City of Calgary recreation facilities and the shuttering of a central north Calgary recreation facility (Vivo), which will be closed until 2023.
“It was important to put something in place to address the influx of out-of-area residents utilizing the facility’s programs,” said Mayor Peter Brown in the press release. “This temporary pilot program supports our local residents to ensure they have access to Genesis Place’s excellent programs.”
The priority pilot program will be in place for under one year, to be reviewed for extension or termination in the spring of 2023. According to the City, their expectation is that program attendance distribution levels will return to similar levels as previous years upon the reopening of Vivo and when Calgary programming levels increase.
