Public opinions wanted on design options for massive recreation centre & library in Pickering

Three concept designs have been unveiled for the Seaton Recreation Complex & Library and the City of Pickering wants the public to vote on their favourite.

Pickering awarded the design contract for the facility – the largest project in the community’s history and the first multi-purpose recreation complex built in Pickering in more than 40 years – in July to Perkins & Will Canada, a global firm with a history of sustainable design and a portfolio including everything from student housing projects in Victoria, B.C. to renovations at the home of the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets in North Carolina.

Perkins & Will released their three concept designs Wednesday, with residents invited to provide input at LetsTalkPickering.ca/Seaton to complete a survey by November 7.

Pickering Mayor Kevin Ashe said the new state-of-the-art facility will help meet both the immediate and future needs of Pickering, especially in the city’s booming north end.

“I encourage all community members to vote on their preferred design option and share their ideas. We have the opportunity to create a vibrant hub that inspires connection, activity, and growth for generations to come.”

Public input received during the community engagement phase will help shape a final design proposal, which will be presented to Council for review and consideration in the first quarter of 2025.

Construction is expected to begin in the spring of 2026 for the facility, to be located on a 25-acre site at the re-aligned Whitevale Road (future Alexander Knox) & Sideline 24 (future Burkholder Drive) in Seaton. The Seaton Recreation Complex & Library is scheduled to open in early 2029.

Option #1 (ground floor view)

Concept Design #1 offers a “bold and urban site arrangement” that prioritizes the built form to create an urban edge, and “clearly distinguishes between the building and the park.”

Option #2 (ground floor view)

Concept Design #2 offers an organic landscape to create “impactful relationships with nature and unique opportunities for learning and interacting outdoors.”

Option #3 (ground floor view)

Concept Design #3 provides a series of landscape terraces that flow with the site and “invite community” through experiences that range from structured indoor and outdoor programs to a naturalized area.

The amenity list for all three options include 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 a two-pad arena.

Former Pickering Mayor Wayne Arthurs – still fit as a fiddle at 76 and enjoying retirement – will be honoured with his name on the gymnasium at the recreation complex.

You can view a summary of site plans and amenities for each of the concept designs on the Seaton website.

There has been no price tag revealed for the project, the first multipurpose recreation complex built in Pickering since the Pickering Recreation Complex (now the Chestnut Hill Developments Recreation Complex) opened in 1983.

Seaton is a huge 7,000-acre block of land in north Pickering that has been in the planning stages since 2006. Most of the land was owned by the Province and five private landowner groups: Lebovic Homes, Mattamy Homes, DG Group, White Sun Developments and Seaton TFPM.

About three-quarters of the lands were approved by 2014 with infrastructure and servicing (sewer and water, roads etc.) getting underway in 2015. New home construction got underway in 2017 and the first residents moved in a year later.

The community is planned to eventually accommodate 70,000 new residents and 35,000 new jobs.