Geotechnical Investigation is taking place from November 8th to and should take 3-4 days to complete. Stay updated on this important project by joining the Community Hub email list
The Province is encouraging municipalities to bring together essential services and community space in one spot and the recent 2017 Parks and Recreation Master Plan also identifies the need to develop a community hub. The W.J. Henderson Recreation Centre (WJH) pool infrastructure is long past its end of life with frequent costly and protracted maintenance forcing the issue of replacement. With the forced closure of the pool and the Township’s current and future operational staff needs no longer being met by the current Administrative Offices, it seems the right time to take positive action.
Quick summary to date
- An architectural firm is working with staff to complete draft conceptual and detailed design drawings.
- Council authorized staff to continue with the design and work with the architects to provide a Validation Report for the newly elected Council which will include a detailed work plan and cost target for the project.
- The latest staff report of July 11, 2022 includes an update of the concept plans, schematic designs and high-level cost estimates of upgrades at the WJH pool, change rooms, and accessibility.
- Community engagement and public consultation will continue to be key to this project - opportunities for focused and constructive public participation will be provided.
- The Township's grant application to the Federal GICB program for the New Build option was unsuccessful while the status of the separate application to the GICB Retrofit Option remains pending.
- A grant application is being prepared for the Green Municipal Fund for a partially forgivable loan.
- The infrastructure failure of the WJH pool that began on March 9, 2022 has forced its closure.
- Interim aquatic programs are available through partnerships with BGC South East and the YMCA with the focus on swimming lessons.
- A list of linked documents and reports can be found at the bottom of this page.
| Date | Description |
|---|---|
| Q1 2023 |
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| Q4 2022 - Q1 2023 |
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| Q3 2022 |
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| July 11, 2022 |
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| July 2022 |
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| April 19, 2022 |
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| March 9, 2022 |
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| July 2021 |
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| June 2021 |
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| 2021 Budget |
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| July 9, 2018 |
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There will be regular updates and information related to the Community Hub project on this page and by email. Please join the project email list to receive project updates and information about opportunities for community engagement.
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Project in detail
The original project took shape at the July 9, 2018 Council Meeting, when Council approved a report directing Township staff to enter into negotiations with MacLennan Jaunkalns Miller Architects (MJMA), a Toronto based architecture firm, for the design of a Sustainable Community Hub. The Feasibility Study and Master Plan developed by MJMA for the proposed Community Centre began with a qualitative systems assessment of the existing WJH Recreation Centre. The elements presented in the Feasibility Study include the recreation facilities recommended in the Township’s Parks and Recreations Master Plan, a municipal office which would house Township Staff, and the amenities desired by the County. This allowed the consultant to determine if the proposed facilities could, in principle, be accommodated on the site. The results of the Feasibility Study were presented to Council on December 3, 2018 in the Loyalist Township Sustainable Community Centre Report dated December 3, 2018.
With the results of the Feasibility Study in hand, Staff began working on developing a financial plan to fund the project, which included applications to various provincial and federal funding programs. In June 2021, following a Staff Report providing a Community Hub update, Council approved the transfer of $150,000 from the Hub capital reserve, and $206,000 from the project “carry over” to be used for the first phase of schematic drawings at the total cost of $354,816.
Most recently, applications were submitted to the Green and Inclusive Community Building program. Notification of an unsuccessful application to the New Build stream of the program was received in June, 2022, however, results from the Retrofit Option remain pending. The Township also successfully applied for funding to the Renewable Energy Benefit Fund, in the amount of $670,000. These funds will be used to finalize a conceptual design based on public feedback, after which point schematic and detailed designs will be assembled.
At the July 11, 2022 Council Meeting, Council received a staff report providing an update on the status and a proposed workplan for the project. Council authorized staff to continue with the design of the proposed facility and work with MJMA and a contractor to develop a Project Validation Report which would include a detailed work plan as well as a cost target for the project. The Validation Report will be presented to the new Council in 2023 and authorization to proceed to the construction phase of the project would be contingent on its approval by Council.
The staff report also included an update of the concept plans, schematic designs, and high-level cost estimates associated with conducting upgrades at the WJH.
Upgrades would involve:
- A new aquatic facility with an 8 lane, 25 metre pool as well as a leisure pool;
- Larger and accessible aquatic change rooms;
- Upgrade mechanical systems and energy conservation measures;
- Accessibility upgrades to the remainder of the facility, such as the arena change rooms, washrooms, and stands.
The revised estimate for the facility includes a construction cost of $32 million.
Community engagement will be a key component of this project and will be designed to create various opportunities for focused and constructive public participation and to provide residents the flexibility to choose when and how they provide feedback.
Budget and funding
During the 2021 Capital Budget approval process, Council approved $2.5 million to be set aside in reserve for the potential project, in conjunction with a $206,000 carry over amount for a total of $2.7 million in budget.
Capital plans for Phase I of the project have been developed for three different scenarios:
- Receiving full funding through the Green and Inclusive Community Buildings (GICB) grant program along with support through the Green Municipal Fund (GMF).
- Receiving no funding through the GICB grant program but receiving support through the GMF.
- Receiving partial funding through the GICB grant program and support through the GMF.
A financial plan which assumes a successful application to the Retrofit option of the GICB program was developed to provide a breakdown of one-time revenue as well as existing funding and savings which could be used to finance the project. Based on the projections, it is estimated that phase I of the Community Hub Project could be funded through a 0.46% increase to the General Rate tax levy.
W.J. Henderson Recreation Centre pool closure
Interim aquatic programs are available through partnerships with BGC South East and the YMCA of Eastern Ontario with the focus for summer 2022 being children’s and adult’s swimming lessons.
On April 19, 2022, based on a structural engineering assessment, Council directed staff to close the pool until further notice. Staff were directed to work with regional partners to source interim aquatic options for Township residents and report back to Council with updated capital costs and financial options for Council consideration.
Over the past several years, the pool at the W.J Henderson Recreation Centre has experienced many infrastructure failures as it continues to operate beyond its lifecycle. The most recent failure began on March 9, 2022. The pool initially closed due to issues related to water chemistry and contractors were engaged to address the situation. As the situation unfolded and repairs were made, additional infrastructure issues presented themselves including cracking of the pool basin that required substantial repairs.
A structural engineer provided an assessment of the pool basin which concluded the pool basin and the pool slab had lost uniform load distribution. Serious water leakage at the top of the pool walls is ultimately causing the cracking with water penetration resulting in erosion of the sand under the slab. This erosion is causing channels to form under the building following the contours of the underlying bedrock. The concrete does have some strength but has reached a point of stress resulting in load redistribution which, in turn, is causing the cracking to spread. The basin slab is lacking uniform support and without that uniform support, serious cracking has occurred and continues to occur. Consequently, the pool cannot operate.
Recreation Master Plan and Service Delivery Review
The 10-year Parks & Recreation Master Plan completed in 2017 had recommendations for the W.J. Henderson Recreation Centre, many of which came out of the Public Consultation process.
The recommendations in the Master Plan also referenced the opportunity to include a potential new municipal office on the site of the W.J. Henderson Recreation Centre, along with space for partnering agencies.
A Recreation Service Delivery Review for the Township was commissioned in early 2022 to complement the Master Plan by identifying specific opportunities to improve services and address any potential delivery gaps in the current offerings of recreation and leisure programs.
| Report/Document | Date |
|---|---|
| W.J. Henderson Recreation Centre Upgrades | Jul 11, 2022 |
| Recreation Service Delivery Review | Jun 24, 2022 |
| Hub Project Green and Inclusive Community Buildings Funding Update | Jun 14, 2021 |
| Hub Project Update | May 17, 2021 |
| Community Hub Update and Grant Funding Opportunity | Oct 15, 2019 |
| Report 1 from Community Hub Steering Committee | Jun 10, 2019 |
| Loyalist Township Sustainable Community Centre | Dec 10, 2018 |
| MJMA Feasibility Study (66Mb) | Nov 29, 2018 |
| YMCA Community Hubs | Sep 10, 2018 |
| Architectural Services for the Design of a Sustainable Community Hub | Jul 9, 2018 |
| Community Hub - Project Update | Jun 11, 2018 |
| Green Municipal Fund | Feb 12, 2018 |
| Enabling Accessibility Fund | May 14, 2018 |
| Staff Recommendations for the Location of a New Municipal Office Building | Jul 24, 2017 |
| Parks and Recreation Master Plan | Jun 26, 2017 |
The investigation is scheduled to commence November 14th, 2022, and should take approximately 3-5 days to complete, with work occurring between the hours 7:00 am to 5:00 pm. Some equipment may remain on the premises overnight.
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