East Gwillimbury tenders new multi-use recreation centre for $77 million

Total cost of the Heathy Active Living Plaza in Queensville could be upwards of $110M once completed

Yorkregion.com
Sept. 28, 2022
Simon Martin

After years of planning and saving, East Gwillimbury is finally getting a new pool, community centre and library all wrapped up into one.

East Gwillimbury council approved the most expensive tender in its history -- for the Health and Active Living Plaza to be located on Leslie Street in Queensville -- at the Sept. 7 council meeting.

Aquicon Construction was awarded the tender for $77,870,000. That doesn’t include the more than $10 million the town has already spent getting the project ready for tender. When all is complete, after the town tenders an accompanying park, the total cost of the project could be upwards of $110 million.

Town staff said the construction will be entirely funded from development charges and won't lead to additional taxes for residents -- although the cost of operating the facility will see a slight increase.

“We have been working on it and saving up for it -- not going to cost a taxpayer,” said Ward 3 Coun. Scott Crone. “We were elected to make decision; let’s get on with it and get it done.”

“This is a very big day for East Gwillimbury and our residents,” Ward 2 Coun. Tara Roy-DiClemente said.

While exciting news, Roy-DiClemente pointed out there’s currently a shortfall of $15.6 million in the town’s development charge reserve to completely fund the project. Staff said they are meeting with developers in the near future and will consider amending the town’s development charge bylaw. If the money can’t be found in development charges, staff assured there are other methods, including borrowing from other town reserves, federal and provincial money, gas tax money and fundraising in the community.

“For me, I want to have some certainty. I would like to know where that $15 million is coming from it it's not coming from development charges,” Roy-DiClemente said.

The Health and Active Living Project wasn’t supposed to be this expensive when council first started talking about the project several years ago. In 2020, the estimated cost was $50 million. Last year, council was told that cost had ballooned to $67 million. Now the tender for the facility is $77 million.

Town staff said the COVID-19 pandemic has had significant impacts upon the construction industry, resulting in unprecedented prices. Supply chain issues, rising commodity prices, labour shortages and inflation have created an environment where construction prices have increased 20 to 40 per cent over the last two years.

'Unprecedented market conditions': Cost estimate for new East Gwillimbury recreation facility balloons to $67M

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, multi-use recreation complexes had an average cost of approximately $500 to $550 per square foot. Over the past six months, those values have increased an additional 25 per cent. The cost for the Healthy Active Living Plaza is $826 per square foot.

The plaza will feature more than 80,000 square feet of facility space, including: East Gwillimbury’s first-ever aquatics centre; a library; maker space and sound studio; gymnasium, with track and potential fitness amenities; program spaces, with a teaching kitchen; an interior boardwalk space with public art; and an interactive nature-themed play space. The park space will include: teaching and reading gardens; outdoor cooking space; a playground and splash pad; skate park and pump track; multi-use sport courts; outdoor game tables; beach volleyball and sports field space.

As part of the budget deliberations, council approved an additional $990,000 in net-zero initiatives for the facility that will pay themselves back over time -- including a built-in pool cover, artificial intelligence based smart building automation, and making the facility solar ready.

The town is gearing up to pay for the added cost of operating the facility with phased tax increases. During its 2022 budget presentation, Director of Finance Warren Marshall proposed a 0.8 per cent tax increase for four years to pay for the $1.6 million estimated operating cost of the facility.

Aquicon Construction has built dozens of large scale recreations facilities in the GTA, including the Oak Ridges Community Centre and the Bradford West-Gwillimbury Community Centre.