The City is building a new accessible and net zero emissions community recreation and aquatics centre steps away from Rosedale Subway Station. The facility will front Ramsden Park to the north and Budd Sugarman Park to the east and is proposed to include a 25-metre lane pool, a leisure pool, a gymnasium with a running track, and multi-use activity spaces.
The timeline is subject to change.
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This project has been classified as an Involve project based on the International Association for Public Participation Spectrum. This means we work directly with the public, stakeholders and rightsholders throughout the design process to ensure that ideas and aspirations are understood and considered.
This project has a Community Advisory Committee (CAC) made up of both representatives from key stakeholder groups and residents who represent the demographics of the overall community. The CAC’s mandate is to provide a forum for feedback, guidance and advice to the project team at key decision points during the community engagement process. The CAC will meet approximately one to two times per phase of the project. The CAC is not a decision-making body and does not speak on behalf of the entire community.
In August 2025, the City launched a two-stage international design competition for a new Ramsden Park Community Recreation Centre.
In Stage One, applicants submit their qualifications for consideration. In Stage Two, the five highest-rated applicants develop and present their designs. Feedback from experts and residents help a jury choose the winner.
Submit on the City’s Bid Portal
In this stage, the City invites applications in response to the terms and conditions outlined in the RFSQ to determine their eligibility. Stage One RFSQ submissions are reviewed by an Evaluation Committee made up of City staff and an independent Professional Advisor. Up to five highest-rated design teams are shortlisted and invited to participate in the following stage.
In this stage, the five shortlisted design teams submit conceptual designs for the new community recreation centre in response to the RFP.
The shortlisted design teams are required to present their designs to a jury comprised of recognized design and architecture professionals, the City and the Community Advisory Committee. Designs are shared on the project website and public exhibition for public feedback before the jury’s decision. Public feedback informs the jury’s decision to select the winner of the competition, and their decision is final.
The winning design team for the new Ramsden Park Community Recreation Centre will be announced in fall 2026.
In this phase, the City will work with the community and the Community Advisory Committee to define an overall vision, guiding principles and big moves for the new Community Recreation Centre (CRC). These will guide the development of design options in Community Engagement Phase 2.
The community engagement activities anticipated in this phase include:
The vision is co-created with the community to describe the ideal future community recreation centre. It is a big-picture statement that should inspire everyone toward a common understanding of the project’s overall goals and objectives.
The guiding principles are high-level directions that reflect the community’s most important values and ideas for how the community recreation centre should look and feel. They help to clarify the vision statement and guide how the community recreation centre should be designed by describing the desired outcomes.
The big moves communicate the main priorities of both the community and the City for the design of the community recreation centre. They are specific directions for how the physical design can achieve the vision and guiding principles.
From May 30 to June 16, an online thought exchange activity gathered ideas for the new community recreation centre. The activity received a total of 135 thoughts and 2,600 thought ratings from 173 participants.
A summary of the feedback will be posted on this page.
From March 25 to May 26, community members could apply to be part of the project’s Community Advisory Committee.
On March 24, a project kick-off event took place at Belmont House to share information about the about the design process and the engagement plan for the new Community Recreation Centre.
Download the March 2025 Kick-Off meeting presentation.
This phase will be separated into two parts, A and B. In Phase 2A, feedback will be collected from the community and the Community Advisory Committee on the early draft design. In Phase 2B, feedback will be collected on refined draft designs based on input from Phase 2A. The feedback will be used to develop a preferred design for the Community Recreation Centre (CRC).
The community engagement activities anticipated in this phase include:
In this phase, the City will share the preferred design with the community and the Community Advisory Committee. Once the preferred design is confirmed, the project will move into the detailed design phase, where the design team will finalize the preferred design by working through the technical details and plans for the construction contractor.
The anticipated outcomes of this phase include a refined preferred design.
The community engagement activities anticipated in this phase include:
The Ramsden Park Community Recreation Centre (CRC) was identified through the Parks and Recreation Facilities Plan Implementation Strategy and will offer a variety of year-round programs and services for Rosedale’s growing communities and surrounding area.
The CRC is proposed to include:
The CRC will meet Accessibility for Ontarians with Disability Act accessibility standards and target Net Zero emissions building design.