Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre

Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre
Full name Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre
Location 875 Morningside Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Coordinates 43°47′25.19″N 79°11′35.88″W / 43.7903306°N 79.1933000°W / 43.7903306; -79.1933000Coordinates: 43°47′25.19″N 79°11′35.88″W / 43.7903306°N 79.1933000°W / 43.7903306; -79.1933000
Owner University of Toronto
City of Toronto
Capacity Aquatics Centre - 6,000
Field House - 2,000
Field size 312,000 sq ft (29,000 m2)
Two 10-lane 50 metre pools
Dive tank
Four-court gymnasium
200 metre track
Construction
Broke ground 27 September 2012
Built 2012-2014
Opened 2 September 2014
Construction cost $205 million
Architect NORR Limited
General contractor PCL Construction
Tenants
2015 Pan American Games
2015 Parapan American Games
Toronto Varsity Blues
Canadian Sports Institute Ontario

The Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre is a sports complex in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Owned by the municipal government of Toronto and the University of Toronto, it is located at the northern grounds of the University's Scarborough campus near the intersection of Highway 401 and Morningside Avenue in the suburb of Scarborough. Opened to the public on September 2, 2014, the complex consists of a 6,000-seat aquatics arena with two Olympic-size swimming pools and a diving well; and a 2,000-seat field house that includes four full-sized gymnasiums, a fitness centre, a climbing wall, and a 200-metre track. The centre hosted diving, fencing, swimming, synchronized swimming and modern pentathlon competitions during the 2015 Pan American Games.[1] Funding for the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre is the largest single investment in amateur sports in the history of Canada.

Development

The architect of the facility is David Clusiau. PCL Construction and NORR Ltd., signed a contract to design, build and finance the facility.[2] The facility was designed by Counsilman-Hunsaker, the company that designed the 1996 Summer Olympics aquatic centre.[3] The facility is aiming at receiving a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver label.[3]

The facility was funded by the Government of Canada, the Government of Ontario, the municipal government of Toronto and the University of Toronto. In 2009, students at the University of Toronto Scarborough voted in favour of a 25 year levy which will contribute about $30 million to the facility.[4] In 2011, the city of Toronto learned it had to contribute an extra $23 million for soil remediation on the former landfill.[5] The whole facility cost about $205 million Canadian dollars ($158 million to design and build it) which makes it the largest amount spent on amateur sport in Canada.[2]

The official ground breaking for the facility was on 27 September 2012 and was attended by dignitaries such as Mayor of Toronto, Rob Ford. The facility was announced then as the largest venue being built for the 2015 Pan American Games and represents the largest investment in amateur sport in Canadian history.[6][7]

Design

Aquatics centre

Aquatics centre
City:Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Capacity:6,000
Built:2012-2014
Opened:2 September 2014
Construction cost:$205 million
Architect(s):NORR Limited
Home club(s):Toronto Varsity Blues

The aquatics centre has 6,000 seats.[1] The facility also includes another 50 metre training pool, which doubles the number of Olympic Standard Pools in Toronto. Moreover the aquatics centre also contains a dive pool with three diving platform heights (3, 7.5 and 10 metres) and a dry diving training centre.[1] The centre is the only aquatics facility in the area that meets international competition standards and the first facility with a warm-up pool.[1]

Field house

The field house is adjacent to the aquatics centre and seats 2,000 people. The field house hosted fencing and modern pentathlon (fencing portion) events during the 2015 Games.[1] The field house consists of three gymnasiums, a 200 metre indoor running facility, racquet sports courts and a centre for fitness which the entire school community can use.[1] Moreover the facility contains weightlifting equipment and a training area.[2] It is also the home of the Canadian Sports Institute Ontario (CSIO).

Photo gallery

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 PanAm aquatics centre’s ‘dynamic silhouette’ to highlight transparency
  2. 1 2 3 Groundbreaking kicks-off start of construction for Pan Am and Parapan Am Aquatics Centre and Field House presented by CIBC
  3. 1 2 Scarborough's Pan-Am pool designer created Atlanta Olympics facility
  4. ↑ Province highlights winning bid for $158-million PanAm aquatics centre
  5. ↑ Toronto’s Pan Am costs to double
  6. ↑ City breaks ground on $158M aquatics centre for 2015 Pan Am Games
  7. ↑ Pan Am pools construction starts

External links

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