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 3,500-seat aquatics arena (6,000 during the Pan Am and Parapan Am Games) 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. 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. The facility was designed by Counsilman-Hunsaker, the company that designed the 1996 Summer Olympics aquatic centre. The facility has been awarded Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold label.
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. In 2011, the city of Toronto learned it had to contribute an extra $23 million for soil remediation on the former landfill. 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.
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 federal investment in amateur sport in Canadian history.
It has been announced that the facility will be a host venue to both the North American Indigenous Games and the Invictus Games in 2017.
Design
Aquatics centre
The aquatics centre has 3,500 seats. 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. The centre is the only aquatics facility in the area that meets international competition standards and the first facility with a warm-up pool.
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. 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. Moreover the facility contains weightlifting equipment and a training area. It is also the home of the Canadian Sports Institute Ontario (CSIO).
Photo gallery
References
External links
- Official website
- Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre at the University of Toronto Scarborough
- Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre at the 2015 Pan Am Games
