SILVER SPRING, Md. (WDVM) — After a long two years, a Montgomery County community center is open again to the public.

The Long Branch Community Recreation and Senior Center in Silver Spring reopened this week after shutting down during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Shortly after, the facility served as a shelter for community members who needed a place to stay.

Recently, some of those members moved to a new shelter in Rockville. Long Branch is open again with activities like sports and fitness classes for kids, families, and older adults.

“Being able to use this center and now bringing it back to life on the inside and taking care of the grounds out here so this is a place that when you drive up to it, it looks the way you’d like it to look, is really, really important,” said Marc Elrich, Montgomery County Executive.

And May 21, there’s a nice event to celebrate the center’s reopening.