A new Community Recreation Centre and Child Care Centre is coming to the Lawrence Heights neighbourhood as part of the Toronto Community Housing Lawrence Heights Revitalization project. The community engagement process will focus on the design for the new Community Recreation Centre (CRC) since the building program for the Child Care Centre is determined by the Province.
Toronto Community Housing (TCH) is leading the wider revitalization process for Lawrence Heights, including the relocation of tenants at 5 Leila Ln. To learn more, visit the TCH project webpage or contact TCH at 416-981-5626 or LHRelocation@torontohousing.ca.
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The timeline is subject to change.
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This project has been classified as a Collaborate project based on the International Association of Public Participation Public Participation Spectrum. This means we aim to partner with the public, stakeholders, and rightsholders in each aspect of the design process, including the development of design options and the identification of a preferred design.
This project has a Community Advisory Committee (CAC) with a mandate to provide feedback, guidance and advice to the project team at key decision points during the community engagement process to ensure the perspective and needs of the neighbourhood are reflected in the designs. The CAC will meet at least once during each phase of the community engagement process. The CAC consists of 34 members, including individual community members and representatives from community organizations. The individual community members were selected through a civic lottery to represent the diversity of the community and includes:
The CAC also includes representatives from the following community organizations:
The vision, guiding principles and big moves for the new CRC were developed based on community feedback collected over the last 15 years of consultation for the Lawrence Heights Revitalization.
In Community Engagement Phase 1, the vision, guiding principles and big moves were refined using community feedback.
The vision is co-created with the community to describe the ideal future CRC. It is a big-picture statement that should inspire everyone toward a common understanding of the project’s overall goals and objectives.
The new Lawrence Heights CRC will be:
The guiding principles are high-level directions that reflect the community’s most important values and ideas for how the CRC should look and work. They help to clarify the vision statement and guide how the centre should be designed by describing the desired outcomes.
The guiding principles for the new CRC are:
The big moves communicate the main priorities of both the community and the City for the design of the CRC. They are specific directions for how the physical design can achieve the vision and guiding principles.
The big moves for the new CRC are:
Between September 2023 and January 2024, community members provided shared their programming and activity preferences for the new CRC, and provided feedback on the project’s draft vision statement, guiding principles and big moves.
Download the Phase 1 engagement report.
The draft vision statement, guiding principles and big moves for the new CRC were developed based on community feedback collected over the last 15 years through consultations and engagements relating to the Lawrence Heights Revitalization.
The new Lawrence Heights CRC will be:
On January 18, 2024, the first Community Advisory Committee meeting took place at the Lawrence Heights Community Centre.
Download the January 18, 2024 CAC meeting summary.
From September 15 to November 12, an online survey collected community feedback on program and activity preferences and the draft vision statement, design principles and big moves for the new CRC. Paper copies were available upon request. In completing the survey, participants could share program and activity preferences and provide feedback on the draft project vision, design principles and big moves for the new CRC.
Download the November 2023 survey summary.
Multiple pop-up events took place where community members could learn about the project and provide feedback to guide the CRC design.
Download the 2023 Community Pop-up event summary.
On October 4, the first Indigenous Communities Virtual Sharing Meeting took place.
Download the October 4, 2023 indigenous communities virtual sharing meeting summary.
A Community Advisory Committee (CAC) will meet in each phase of the community engagement process to review and discuss key project elements. Members will support the project team by providing feedback and sharing information about the project with their networks and communities. Four CAC meetings are planned from fall 2023 to winter 2024, each meeting will be approximately two to three hours and a $50 honorarium will be provided per meeting. Professional experience is not required and all community members 16 years or older are welcome to apply.
Applications have now closed, and applicants will be notified if they are a member of the CAC by the end of October. The CAC is selected through a civic lottery process.
Two community workshops took place on Wednesday, September 27, 2023, at the Lawrence Heights Community Centre to collect feedback from community members to guide the design of the new CRC.
Download the September 27, 2023 community workshop summary.
In this phase, proposed designs for the new CRC will be presented to the local community for feedback through Community Advisory Committee (CAC) meetings, an Indigenous sharing meeting, an online survey and a series of in-person pop-up events in the community. The feedback gathered in this phase of community engagement will be used to develop the preferred design for the new CRC.
From July 8 to 29, 293 community members participated in an online survey that collected feedback on the proposed design of the new CRC. The project team will use this feedback to develop the preferred design.
Download the July 2024 survey summary.
Pop-up events took place where community members could learn about the project and provide feedback on the proposed CRC design.
Download the Phase 2 Community Pop-up event summary.
On June 5, the project team hosted a pop-up at Unison Health and Community Services to engage youth through Unison Health’s Pathways to Education program. Approximately 20 high-school-aged youth were engaged.
On May 14, a virtual workshop was held for Lawrence Heights CRC staff to review and provide feedback on the draft design.
On April 30, a second Indigenous Communities Virtual Sharing Meeting was held to give Indigenous community members an opportunity to review and provide feedback on the draft preliminary design, and review the final version of the vision statement, guiding principles and big moves.
Download the April 30, 2024 indigenous communities virtual sharing meeting summary.
On April 25, the Community Advisory Committee met at the Lawrence Heights CRC to review and provide feedback on the draft preliminary design, and review the final version of the vision statement, guiding principles and big moves.
Download the April 25 Community Advisory Committee meeting summary.
This phase of the community engagement process will start in the fall of 2024. In this phase, a final proposed design for the new CRC will be presented to the local community for a final round of feedback and revisions.
The City of Toronto’s Public Art Program has designated two public art projects for the Lawrence Heights Community Recreation Centre and Child Care Centre. Oddside Arts has been hired by the City to lead the artist selection process. As part of the process, the Oddside Arts team will be hosting community engagement events and surveys to find out what kind of art the community would like to see in the new centre. With these ideas and themes in mind, the public art competition will begin in the fall of 2024. The community will be able to provide feedback on the public art proposals in spring 2025, with the winning designs being selected by summer 2025.
For questions on the public art process, please contact Katriina Campitelli at Katriina.Campitelli@toronto.ca
From August 19 to October 1, an online survey collected feedback on opportunities for two public art projects at the new Lawrence Heights Community Recreation Centre and Child Care Centre.
A summary of the survey results will be posted when available.
Lawrence Heights CRC and Child Care Centre will be one of the City’s largest new Centres. The new facility will replace the existing Lawrence Heights Community Centre, which will remain open until the new facility is built. The new CRC will be a free centre.
Both the CRC and the Child Care Centre will meet Accessibility for Ontarians with Disability Act accessibility standards and target Net Zero emissions building design.
The new CRC will be located at a new location near Varna Drive and Ranee Avenue, north of Flemington Public School. This location was chosen during the Lawrence Heights Secondary Plan process in 2011 to become a well-connected future hub in the growing community. The site will connect to a new road extension and other infrastructure.
The design of the CRC will be determined with the help of City staff and community feedback collected during the community engagement process. Based on the City’s Parks and Recreation Facilities Master Plan and initial feedback from community members and recreation staff, the proposed CRC features include but are not limited to:
The CC is an 88 space facility that includes spaces for infants (10 spots), toddlers (30 spots) and pre-school children (48 spots) up to four years old. The number of child care spaces available has been maximized based on the City-Council approved budget, provincial design requirements and provincial staffing ratio requirements. The design is planned to include: