The Rouge Valley Community Recreation and Child Care Center is now open at Joyce Trimmer Park in Scarborough following a ribbon cutting ceremony earlier today by Mayor Olivia Chow, City Councilor Neethan Shan and City of Toronto staff. The 94,000 sq. ft. facility adds a multi-use hub to the park on Sheppard Avenue, east of Morning Side Avenue in northeast Scarborough. The center is the city's first net-zero emissions community water facility and the first in Ontario to achieve Zero Carbon Building certification.
Looking northeast at the Rouge Valley Community Recreation Centre, City of Toronto image
“From the daycare center to the fitness and recreation rooms, this is a place that serves residents of all ages,” Chow said. “I am particularly proud to have the city’s first indoor cricket ground, reflecting the sports, cultures and passions that make Scarborough the vibrant community it is.” The mayor and city council were joined by teachers and students from the Grade 8 leadership team from nearby Alvin Curling Public School and played indoor cricket after the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Mayor Olivia Chow, Councilman Neethan Shan and Alvin Curling PS students at the opening of the Rouge Valley Community Recreation Center, image via CurlingTDSB@x.com
The plans for the new center arise from the city's recognition that there is insufficient recreational space in north-east Scarborough. Over several years, city staff conducted demographic studies, community surveys and several rounds of public meetings. The feedback from this formed a compact, stacked building concept that protects Joyce Trimmer Park while providing aquatic facilities, a gymnasium, studios, childcare rooms and community spaces.
The facility's three-story, stacked floor plan reduces the building's footprint while organizing the large recreational spaces around clear circulation routes. On the ground floor there is a 25 meter lap pool and an adjacent leisure pool with dedicated changing rooms. There is a fully equipped gymnasium upstairs surrounded by an upper level running track. The top floor also includes dance and fitness studios, a teaching kitchen and multi-purpose program rooms. The on-site daycare center offers space for 62 children in five playrooms and three dedicated outdoor courtyards.
Interior during construction, image from the city of Toronto
Designed by Perkins&Will, the building features large areas of curtain wall glazing and aluminum cladding. Views of the park are framed by tall window openings, while the roof features alternating panels that combine photovoltaic and thermal functions to simultaneously generate electricity and store heat, as well as a landscaped roof terrace. Additional solar panels are integrated into the parapet panels and mounted on bifacial canopies in the parking area to generate energy from both direct sunlight and reflected light.
The center is built as an all-electric facility, eschewing combustion-based systems and relying on a range of highly efficient technologies to meet the needs of a water sports and fitness program. Air source heat pumps provide year-round heating and cooling, supported by a powerful shell. Mechanical systems further reduce consumption through advanced ventilation devices capable of recovering most of the heat from the exhaust air flows, reducing the operating load and helping the building achieve Zero Carbon Building certification.
Looking north at the Rouge Valley Community Recreation Center designed by Perkins&Will for the City of Toronto
“With 94,000 square feet of space and pools, gymnasium, child care center, dance and fitness studios and more, this facility is an exciting milestone that will help bring Scarborough residents together and build an even healthier community,” Shan said.
Construction began in February 2022. Structural steel was erected over the gymnasium and glazing progressed through 2023 and 2024. The final months of work saw the completion of mechanical and electrical systems, pool tiling, exterior cladding, grading and solar panels, allowing construction to be completed in September 2025 through landscaping.
Looking southeast during construction in August 2024, image of the city of Toronto
Further information about the project can be found in our database file linked below. If you'd like, you can join the discussion in the associated Project Forum thread or leave a comment in the designated area on this page.
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