LOOKING AHEAD 2024: A decade in the making: Georgina’s Multi-use Recreation Complex set to open doors in 2024
Fully accessible facility will feature 3 pools, indoor walking track, double gymnasium
Yorkregion.com
Jan. 5, 2024
Laura Broadley
Georgina’s Multi-use Recreation Complex is expected to open in early 2024; 10 years after town council approved the project in principle.
One of the largest projects in Georgina’s history, the MURC has not been without its fair share of opposition.
A group called Georgina Fair Tax Association was born and in its infancy asked council to defer a $2.24 million design contract for the MURC. A spokesperson for the group claimed at the time that public engagement, evaluation of delivery options and needs analysis were inadequate.
There was talk of a partnership with the YMCA, but in 2019 council voted unanimously to forge ahead alone. Council voted against partnering with the YMCA, in part, because it would’ve meant that while the town had to pay for two-thirds of it, the YMCA would own the land and the facility.
Ultimately, the town moved forward with the $50.2 million project, with construction of the facility on the west side of Woodbine Avenue between Glenwoods Avenue and Ravenshoe Road in Keswick.
Keswick was chosen as the location for the recreation facility because it has the biggest portion of the town’s population and is set to have the most growth and settlement of new residents.
The capital cost to build the recreation complex came primarily from development charges. With the Ontario government’s introduction of Bill 23, the More Homes Built Fast Act, in 2022 the town was forced to look to other sources for a portion of the capital cost. Bill 23 changed where homes could be built and how municipalities were able to collect development charges.
When completed, the MURC will include a six-lane 25-metre pool, therapy pool, double gymnasium, indoor walking track, multi-use meeting/activity rooms, active living space and a Discovery Library branch.
“The MURC will offer affordable, quality recreation and library services to our current residents as well as the growth that is coming to our community in the next few years,” Mayor Margaret Quirk said in 2021.
The facility will be fully accessible, including accessible ramps at all three pools and a fully accessible elevator available to bring people to the second floor.
What the MURC will eventually be called is still unknown as naming rights and corporate sponsorships are still up for grabs.
As of November 2023, the paving and most of the landscaping had been completed, most of the wall and ceiling finishes were completed and the gym flooring installation had started.
Georgina’s long-awaited, and sometimes controversial, Multi-use Recreation Complex is set to welcome people in March.
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