The largest recreation project in Pickering’s history – complete with twin ice pads, which were on the chopping block as a way to cut costs – is back on after council approved a $266.36 million option that will include the arena component, in addition to a 25-metre pool, a library and other amenities.
The city had deferred a final decision on the Seaton Community Centre & Library in the spring because of rising costs and tariff threats but a move to eliminate the ice pads concerned council members, who sent staff to prepare another report for the Sept. 29 meeting.
Staff delivered several options to council, including the full lineup with the arena component at $266,365,000 and one that cut out the ice pads and came in at just over $243 million.
Dropping the arenas from the complex would mean keeping the ageing Don Beer Arena – scheduled to close when the Seaton Community Centre opens – beyond its shelf life and cost taxpayers nearly $600,000 a year in operating expenses and more than $19.4 million in deferred maintenance capital cost over the next ten years.
“We can be in a place where we have no Don Beer Arena and no back-up plan,” Ward 2 Councillor Mara Nagy said. “Folks in Pickering will be very disappointed if we don’t move forward with this.”
A third option was to defer the entire project until 2027 but City Treasurer Stan Karwowski warned council that it could bump up the final price as high as $305 million
Delaying the project opening beyond its original timeline of 2029 would have an effect on other recreational programming, as the existing pool at the Chestnut Hill Developments Recreation Complex is also nearing the end of its serviceable life, with major renovations required in about five years.
Should construction of Seaton not be completed by that time, the city risks a “significant potential reduction” in aquatic programming, as Dunbarton Pool is too small and also at capacity.
A delay would result in a one-year pool closure at Chestnut Hill without an alternative aquatic facility to accommodate approximately 6,600 registered participants in aquatics programs, more than 800 swim members and the potential loss of 70-plus aquatics staff.
Several public delegations were in the council chambers Monday, including Pickering Swim Club coach (and 1984 Olympic gold medalist) Anne Ottenbrite-Muylaert, who said interrupting swimming schedules will have a detrimental effect on both elite swimmers and recreational aquatic users, noting that having access to a pool has proven to save lives.
Finding other sources of revenue for the project – scheduled to get underway next year – will be challenging ,with Karwowski noting that predicting the availability of funding from the provincial and federal government will be difficult. “They would have to be significant grants from both levels of government to have any significance.”
Pickering Mayor Kevin Ashe said he and his staff will do their best to try to bring the tax hike down from an estimated future increase of 6.21 per cent.
“We’re going to have to shake the bushes as much as we can to find additional funding.”
Regional Councillor Maurice Brenner agreed, telling INsauga that by the time the facility opens, the city will “be prepared” to enable the recovery of some of the costs.
The community centre will be the first multipurpose recreation complex in the city since the Pickering Recreation Complex (Chestnut Hill) opened in 1983.
Council had agreed to a project pause in April because of the economic uncertainties of the Trump tariffs, which may result in “significant” financial repercussions.
Brenner said in the spring it would be premature to stop work on the city’s “number one priority” this early in the game, and especially because of economic threats from the U.S. president.
“They want to pause everything,” he said. “If we put everything on hold because of tariffs, the economy will grind to a halt.”
The amenity list for the community centre includes dedicated courts for basketball, pickleball and tennis, a skateboard park, splash pad, children’s playground, community gardens, a pavilion stage for events and an optional skating trail – in addition to the library, an aquatics centre with a 25-metre pool and separate warm-water leisure pool, fitness centre and studios and the two-pad arena.
Seaton Community Centre design options