The City is building a new aquatic and multi-use community centre on the Davisville Junior Public School and Spectrum Alternative School site, east of the intersection of Yonge Street and Davisville Avenue. The facility will include two indoor swimming pools and several multi-purpose rooms to serve various community needs.

While we aim to provide fully accessible content, there is no text alternative available for some of the content on this site. If you require alternate formats or need assistance understanding our maps, drawings, or any other content, please contact James Cho at 416-338-6702.

  • Fall 2020 to Winter 2021: Hire a design team
  • Spring 2021 to Fall 2021: Community engagement and design development
    • Spring 2021: Phase 1, Towards a Vision
    • Summer to Fall 2021: Phase 2, Exploring Design Options
    • Fall to Winter 2021: Phase 3, Setting the Direction
  • Fall 2021 to Spring 2022: Detailed design
  • Spring 2024: Hire a construction team
  • Summer 2024: Construction starts
  • February 2027: Construction complete

The timeline is subject to change.

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November 2024

Groundbreaking Ceremony

A groundbreaking ceremony was held on November 12, 2024, with the local Councillor, City staff and representatives from the Toronto District School Board.

Shoring and excavation work is ongoing, and the previously discovered rubble has been removed. The removal of contaminated soils is underway, and the unsuitable soil at the southwest corner of the site has been addressed.

October 2024

Construction Update

Excavation is underway. Initial work has uncovered rubble from previously demolished buildings and contaminated soil across a large portion of the construction site. Some soil in the southwest corner has been deemed unsuitable for foundations. The project team is working to minimize the impact of these findings on the project timeline.

A construction site with a yellow excavator and other equipment placed near piles of soil and materials, enclosed by a tall wooden fence. In the background, trees and buildings are visible under an overcast sky.

September 2024

Construction Update

Hoarding and fencing have been installed on the construction site and supports are in place to keep the sides of the excavation safe while digging.

Construction site along Davisville Avenue with scaffolding and heavy machinery. The scene includes a wooden fence surrounding the site, traffic cones lined along the road, and a cloudy sky above. In the foreground, there are pedestrians walking on the sidewalk, and buildings can be seen in the background.

August 2024

Construction Update

The installation of construction hoarding around the future facility is nearly complete. As a result, one westbound lane on Davisville Avenue and a section of the north sidewalk will be closed.

Summer 2024

Construction Starts

Construction for the new facility starts.

June 2024

Public Meeting

On June 18, the City’s project team and the Toronto District School Board presented an overview of the project, the proposed facilities and the construction plan.

November 2023 to May 2024

Construction Team Hired

Pre-qualified contractors with experience in net-zero energy and emissions building construction submitted bids for the project. In May 2024, the contractor was hired.

Renderings of the final design and floor plans for the new centre.

Floor Plans

Basement

A floorplan of the basement, with spaces labelled in the numbered list that follows.

  1. Lower lobby
  2. Link to underground parking
  3. Underground parking (shared with school)
  4. Service and mechanical space (no public access)
  5. Main staircase
  6. Elevator
  7. Secondary staircase

Ground Floor

A floorplan of the main floor, with spaces labelled in the numbered list that follows.

  1. Main entrance
  2. Lobby with reception desk
  3. Main staircase
  4. Elevator
  5. Staff offices and lunchroom
  6. Family change rooms, with private change stalls, private washroom stalls, lockers and shared mirror/sink space. The change rooms include two universally accessible washroom/shower/change stalls.
  7. Lane pool with ramp entrance
  8. Leisure/tot pool with water toys and ramp entrance
  9. Drinking fountain
  10. Deck-side showers
  11. Service exit
  12. Emergency exit and basement access
  13. Hallway
  14. Storage

Second Floor

A floorplan of the second floor, with spaces labelled in the numbered list that follows.

  1. Main staircase
  2. Lobby
  3. Pool viewing areas with accessible-height countertops and seating
  4. Meeting room
  5. Staff office
  6. Dance Studio
  7. Teaching Kitchen
  8. Multi-purpose room with folding walls and a small storage room
  9. Multi-purpose room with folding walls and a small storage room, sink and cupboards
  10. Elevator
  11. Secondary staircase
  12. Individual washrooms
  13. Staff office
  14. Hallway
  15. Storage
  16. Drinking fountain

Third Floor and Rooftop

A floorplan of the third floor/rooftop, with spaces labelled in the numbered list that follows.

  1. Main staircase
  2. Lobby
  3. Multi-purpose room with sink, cupboards and storage room
  4. Multi-purpose room with folding wall and storage room
  5. Multi-purpose room with sink, cupboards, folding wall and storage room.
  6. Outdoor gathering area with two barbeques, sinks, a fixed seating and table area and moveable chairs and tables. This area is covered by a pergola and power outlets are available.
  7. Outdoor multi-purpose lawn area
  8. Outdoor walking track
  9. Outdoor fitness area
  10. Skylights which provide light to the floors below
  11. Service and mechanical area (no public access)
  12. Elevator
  13. Secondary staircase
  14. Storage
  15. Hallway
  16. Setup area for outdoor movie screen
  17. Planters
  18. Individual washrooms
  19. Drinking fountain

In this phase of the community engagement process, the project was introduced and four draft design principles were presented to the community for feedback. Community feedback was also collected about the desired features and programming for the new centre.

April 21, 2021

Stakeholder Advisory Committee (SAC) Meeting 1

The purpose of the first Davisville Community and Aquatic Centre SAC was to welcome and introduce members and the project team; review and confirm the Terms of Reference; share, discuss and confirm Program Goals and Design Principles; answer questions of clarification; and share next steps.

Download the meeting summary and final terms of reference.

April 5, 2021

Online Survey

An online survey was available from March 18, 2021, to April 5, 2021. The survey asked for feedback on the type of programming and features community members would like in the Davisville Community and Aquatic Centre’s community multi-purpose rooms, lane pool, leisure/tot pool, rooftop and lobby and for feedback on the proposed design principles.

The survey received 989 responses, which included participation from 1,598 individuals.

Download the survey results summary.

Youth Engagement

To ensure the centre is designed to be welcoming for local youth, the project team held an online youth workshop with 18 grade 11 and 12 students from Northern Secondary School on April 1, 2021. The interactive workshop lasted approximately one hour and was hosted online.

Download the engagement summary.

Additional local elementary and high schools were invited to participate in youth workshops as well, but classrooms were either unavailable over the month-long engagement window or did not respond to the invitation and reminders. Schools will be re-invited to take part during the next round of engagement.

March 24, 2021

Online Public Meeting

This meeting provided a project overview, identified how the community could get involved and had staff answer questions.

Download the

In this phase of the community engagement process, a draft design of the community recreation centre was presented to the community for feedback.

July 2021

Youth Engagement

To ensure the centre is designed to be welcoming for local youth, the project team held online youth workshops with two local grade five classrooms (Davisville Senior Public School and Maurice Cody Junior Public School) and one local grade 11 Architectural Design classroom (Northern Secondary School). Each interactive virtual workshop lasted approximately 30 to 60 minutes.

Download the engagement summary.

June 25 to July 25, 2021

Online Survey

A draft design for the new Centre was developed based on community feedback collected in the spring. The online survey was available from June 25 to July 25, allowing community members to explore the draft design and provide feedback.

Videos explaining the draft design are available, with auto-generated translated subtitles:

Download the survey summary.

June 2021

Phase 2 of Public Consultation Begins

The goal of this phase of engagement is to present and get community feedback on a draft Centre design.

June 15, 2021

Stakeholder Advisory Committee Meeting 2

The purpose of the second Davisville Community and Aquatic Centre Stakeholder Advisory Committee was to test-run the public presentation for this phase of engagement, which will later be recorded to accompany the online survey; present and gather feedback on the draft design for the new Davisville Community and Aquatic Centre; answer questions of clarification; and, share next steps.

Download the meeting summary.

In the final phase of the community engagement process, a proposed community recreation centre design was presented to the community for feedback.

November 2021

Online Survey

Feedback on the proposed design was collected through an online survey from October 27 to November 24. Paper copies of the online survey were also available at Northern District Library and Deer Park Library. In total, over 750 responses were received.

Download the online survey results report.

October 27, 2021

Virtual Public Meeting

This meeting presented the proposed design for the new Davisville Community and Aquatic Centre and provided an opportunity for community members to ask the project team questions and share feedback.

The meeting recording is available on YouTube.

Download the:

October 18, 2021

Stakeholder Advisory Committee Meeting 3

The purpose of the third Davisville Community and Aquatic Centre Stakeholder Advisory Committee was to present and gather feedback on the proposed design for the new centre and to test-run the public presentation.

Download the meeting summary.

Location

The new Davisville Community and Aquatic Centre will be located on the Spectrum Alternative School site, near Yonge Street and Davisville Avenue. It will be a three-story building located beside the new public school, connected through an underground parking lot.

The new Davisville Community and Aquatic Centre (CAC) will be located on the Davisville Junior Public and Spectrum Alternative Senior School site, near Yonge Street and Davisville Avenue.
An aerial map of the facility’s location.

Features

The new three-storey Davisville Community and Aquatic Centre will be accessible, target net zero emission building design and is planned to include:

  • A six-lane, 25-metre lane pool
  • A leisure/tot pool
  • Community, multi-use space
  • An active roof
  • WIFI access throughout
  • Gender-neutral washrooms and change rooms

The new Centre’s community spaces will be available for permitting through the standard Parks and Recreation Facilities Booking process.

Change Room Stalls

People of any gender, gender identity and/or gender expression enter the same change rooms. People remain clothed in all shared spaces and swimwear is worn while showering. All changing occurs in private stalls.

To support privacy and inclusivity, gender-neutral change rooms include:

  • private changing stalls of different sizes for family and individual use
  • lockers (locks not be provided)
  • shared shower area where swimsuits must be worn
  • enclosed and accessible – Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) – shower and washroom spaces

This inclusive approach to change room space has become an industry standard and has been successfully implemented in new and renovated community recreation centres across the city.

Gender-neutral change rooms provide:

  • Improved safety, where
    • children and their caregivers can use the same space and children do not have to use a change room by themselves
    • transgender and non-binary patrons are not required to use gender-specific change rooms
    • staff of any gender can respond quickly and without hesitation when entering a change room to provide first aid
    • Better sightlines from the pool deck into the change room for staff to enhance patron safety
  • Improved privacy, as patrons are able to change in a privacy stall rather than an open area
  • Improved service, as staff can clean facilities with less disruption to programs by closing only one side of the change room at a time
  • Greater flexibility in delivering and transitioning different types of programs. For example: gender-specific programs can be offered at the same time as gender non-specific programs

Facility Sharing

The Davisville Community and Aquatic Centre will share facilities with the new Davisville Junior Public School next door, through a partnership with the Toronto District School Board (TDSB). The school will have access to the aquatic facility’s swimming pools and the City will have access to the school’s double gymnasium and underground parking garage outside of school hours to support City recreation programming.

As a result of negotiations with the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) led by the local Councillor, a plan to jointly redevelop Davisville Junior Public School with a City of Toronto recreation facility was proposed. The City of Toronto then undertook a recreation needs assessment which analyzed current and future demographic projections, confirming the community’s need for a new aquatics facility with space for City-operated sport and physical activity programming. In order to meet these recreation needs, in July 2016 the City entered into an agreement with the TDSB to:

  • Lease land from the TDSB to build an aquatic community recreation centre that will be owned and operated by the City of Toronto.
  • Invest in the redevelopment of the Davisville Junior Public School to gain shared use of space to the school’s new gymnasium, ancillary spaces and underground garage.

Davisville Junior Public School is complete.

Sustainability

Davisville Community and Aquatic Centre will be one of the first net zero community recreation centres to be built in Canada. The building will target net zero emissions and energy with:

  • A 100 per cent electric building that is not powered by any fossil fuels
  • Energy-efficient building with well-insulated windows, walls and roof
  • Geothermal and air source heat pumps to heat and cool the building (electric boiler backup)
  • Ventilation that provides 85 per cent heat recovery efficiency
  • Drain water heat recovery