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More than 235,000 people, a record number, took part in the July 6 Open Day organised by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD).

They enjoyed free use of the department's indoor sports facilities, swimming pools and museums and had a day full of fun and delight.

"The number of participants on the second Open Day was nearly 14% higher than on the first Open Day on July 1," said a spokesman for the department.

The LCSD's sports and cultural facilities were fully utilised yesterday. Indoor sports facilities, such as badminton courts, squash courts, table tennis tables, American Pool tables and fitness rooms, were almost fully booked, welcoming over 53,000 people.

As for the swimming pools and museums, they recorded attendance of more than 160,000 and some 22,000 respectively.

The six museums offering free admission on Open Days are the Hong Kong Museum of History; the Hong Kong Heritage Museum; the Hong Kong Museum of Art; the Hong Kong Science Museum; the Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defence; and the Hong Kong Space Museum (Exhibition Halls only).

The LCSD will hold three more Open Days as part of the Government's Relaunch Hong Kong Campaign to encourage people to do more exercise and enrich their quality of life.

"The third Open Day will be held on July 13. Only a limited number of free permits for badminton courts remain. Bookings can still be made, though, for other indoor sports facilities, like squash courts, table tennis tables, American Pool tables and fitness rooms. The public should check the availability at the booking offices of the venues they would like to use," the spokesman said.

Open Days are also scheduled for July 20 and 27. Free permits for use of indoor sports facilities on those dates will be distributed starting July 14 and 21 respectively.

End/Monday, July 7, 2003

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