Today, the City of Toronto held a ground-breaking ceremony for the new Etobicoke Civic Centre at 3755 Bloor St. W. – a project that will mark the City’s first civic centre development in 50 years and lay the foundation for creating a dynamic community on City-owned lands at Etobicoke’s Bloor-Kipling precinct.
The milestone ceremony was attended by Mayor Olivia Chow, Deputy Mayor Amber Morley (Etobicoke-Lakeshore), Councillor Stephen Holyday (Etobicoke Centre), Councillor Vincent Crisanti (Etobicoke North) and Councillor Anthony Perruzza (Humber River-Black Creek).
Designed as a state-of-the-art civic hub, the new Etobicoke Civic Centre will feature more than 508,000 square feet of accessible public-facing space. This includes municipal office towers, a podium-level multi-purpose council chamber, a child care centre, a new Toronto Public Library branch, a public health clinic for dental services and breastfeeding, a fully equipped recreation centre, ceremonial rooms, public meeting rooms, an art gallery and retail spaces, all leading out to an open civic square with a Sacred Fire Vessel. Two-level parking will be built within the more than 260,000 square feet below-grade space.
Notably, the basement level of the new civic centre will house a district energy plant managed by Enwave Energy Corporation which will provide energy to the entire Bloor-Kipling precinct – making this Toronto’s first near-zero emissions community. The structure is targeting Toronto Green Standard (TGS) Version 3, Tier 4 and is aligned with the City’s TransformTO Net Zero Strategy to reduce community-wide greenhouse gas emissions in Toronto. Learn more about the Toronto Green Standard by visiting the City’s website.
The new Etobicoke Civic Centre is located on ‘block 4’ of the City’s Bloor-Kipling Block Plan that enabled the reconfiguration of the former Six Points Interchange or ‘Spaghetti Junction’. The $77 million investment to decommission Six Points unlocked almost 18 acres of City-owned land that was parcelled into seven mixed-use redevelopment blocks connected by a network of streets.
Once built, the new civic centre will be steps away from five Housing Now development blocks including 5207 Dundas Street West that broke ground in August 2023. These sites have been identified for additional rental housing development that will deliver at least 2,781 residential homes, 904 of which will be affordable rental homes.
The centrally located civic centre and surrounding housing sites will be flanked by more than 10,000 square metres of parkland and supported by existing and planned cycle lanes.
The foundational work to develop the new civic centre and broader Bloor-Kipling precinct was led by the City’s real-estate agency, CreateTO, which continues to oversee Housing Now sites in the area. The civic centre project has been awarded to MGAC Canada as the City’s project management consultant and Multiplex as the general contractor. Other project partners include Adamson Associate Architects, Henning Larsen Architects and PMA Landscape Architects.
More information is available on the City’s new Etobicoke Civic Centre webpage.
Latest updates on Housing Now projects in the Bloor-Kipling precinct are available on the CreateTO website.
Quotes:
“The new Etobicoke Civic Centre is a landmark project that is part of a bigger vision to create a city centre in Toronto’s west end. I am excited to see this important development that allows residents to live, work and play in one place come to life and support our goal of getting our city back on track.”
– Mayor Olivia Chow
“The new Etobicoke Civic Centre promises to create a new community space within Etobicoke, and to create access to affordable housing and sustainable living in a way that Toronto has never seen before. This new civic hub will be a source of great pride for us all.”
– Deputy Mayor Amber Morley (Etobicoke-Lakeshore)
“The City’s ambitious plan to reconfigure Six Points is now paying off in the form of a complete, sustainable community with the new Etobicoke Civic Centre at its heart. I congratulate City staff, our development partners and members of the public for coming together and supporting our collective goal of building Toronto’s first near-zero emissions community.”
– Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie (Scarborough-Rouge Park), Chair of the Infrastructure and Environment Committee
“The new Etobicoke Civic Centre, with its wide range of critical services on-site including a child care facility, a public health clinic, and a recreation centre, will be a community hub and gathering place for many. I am excited to see the space become a local destination for arts and community programs, and a place for people of all ages and backgrounds to connect.”
– Councillor Alejandra Bravo (Davenport), Chair of the Economic and Community Development Committee
“This is a monumental day for the residents of Etobicoke, who have long needed a civic space that meets the growing needs of this community. With the Council Chamber and municipal offices co-located with many public facilities, the new Etobicoke Civic Centre will truly be a people-oriented development.”
– Councillor Stephen Holyday (Etobicoke Centre), Chair of the Etobicoke York Community Council
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