South Common Community Centre and Library renovation

• Improve the quality of recreational services provided to the residents of Mississauga to achieve the City’s goal of providing access to quality recreational facilities in order to maintain healthy lifestyles
• Modernize and increase the size of the library to address the community need for welcoming, creative, collaborative, fun spaces
• Address the aging state of municipal infrastructure and implement lifecycle upgrades
• Design with an environmentally responsible approach, improve energy efficiency and meet the City’s Corporate Green Building Standard
• Develop a site that meets Mississauga’s Accessibility Design Standards and improve building circulation through enhanced accessibility, wayfinding and connectivity between program spaces
• Alleviate pressure on existing recreational infrastructure by addressing population growth, changing demographics and cultural diversity
• Create strong linkages between indoor and outdoor activity spaces and introduce daylight throughout the building
• Establish a clear, strong entrance identity and convenient location for pedestrians and motorists accessing the building
• Meet the increasing demand for aquatics and fitness programming in the area
• Improve site safety to meet the City’s Vision Zero objectives – eliminate all traffic fatalities and injuries while increasing mobility and safety for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers.

Once the redevelopment is completed, residents will enjoy the benefits of:

• New equipment-based fitness centre
  • Cardio machines, weights, and fitness studio with wood sprung floor
  • Walking track and 2 squash courts
  • Sauna
• New change room facilities
• New aquatics centre
  • 25 meter six lane pool
  • Warm water therapy pool
  • New change room facilities
• New gymnasium
• Updated library
  • Larger children’s area
  • New makerspace with a recording booth, design computers, digital photography tools, robotics equipment and more
  • Larger programming space
  • Increased access to computers
  • Refreshed collections and display areas
  • Quiet and group study spaces
  • Bookable small meeting rooms
  • Comfortable lounge seating and reading areas
  • Automated returns system
• New multi-purpose program spaces
• New outdoor spray pad and outdoor picnic shade structure
• New tennis courts
• Open, bright common areas and lobby space
• Improved sustainable and accessible design standards
• Improved connection to South Common Centre bus terminal
• Improved facility design and improved accessibility throughout the building
• Improved site circulation, parking, and green space

With aging demographics, the new warm water therapeutic pool will provide additional benefits to the community, providing opportunities for rehabilitation and physical activity to promote well-being for the aging population.

The new facility will feature a full-sized double gymnasium that will allow for various sports to be played, including pickleball.

The facility is going to be completely demolished, relocated on the property and rebuilt. As a result, all indoor and outdoor amenities, with the exception of the tennis courts, will be closed for the duration of the project.

Programs will continue to be available at other City-operated facilities including, Churchill Meadows Community Centre, Clarkson Community Centre, Erin Meadows Community Centre and Huron Park Recreation Centre.

Facility rental groups will be relocated to other locations where space is available.  The Customer Service Centre will work with user groups to find the best rental options for those looking to continue renting space while the facility is closed.

South Common Community Centre and Library will be the City’s first capital project to target Level 2 of Mississauga’s Corporate Green Building Standards (CGBS). The CGBS goes above and beyond the Ontario Building Code and sets the standard for a Building’s environmental performance.

Some of the green features the project are exploring include:

• Low-embodied carbon building materials
• High performance building envelope
• Clean fuel and energy efficient equipment
• Solar photovoltaic arrays on the roof
• Air source heat pump system to heat and cool the building
• Sensor-controlled LED lighting

The Library is currently investigating options to support South Common area residents during the closure. More information will be shared when it is available.

The new aquatics centre will feature both a 6 lane, 25 meter lap pool and a therapeutic (warm water) pool, a hot tub has not been proposed in the initial design. While a hot tub was contemplated, it has not been included in the proposed schematic design for the following reasons:

• Due to site constraints in the aquatic centre and accessibility requirements for each pool, including a hot tub would result in a therapy pool that was too small and not functional for programming. Additionally, the hot tub design would be less than ideal (due to the ramp requirements)
• The operational and environmental costs to maintain a hot tub are significant (higher energy costs, GHG emissions, more water waste and more chemicals to maintain safe water)
• A separate, dedicated hot tub is costly to build (estimated at a $1M premium)
• The inclusion of a hot tub would also duplicate many of the features of the therapeutic pool, such as the warm water, seating, and hydrotherapy jets.
• In accordance with Ontario Regulation 565, which establishes rules for Public Pools, use of a hot tub comes with several precautions including the risk of overexposure to heat from prolonged use and serves a limited population (excludes use by children or individuals with some medical conditions) The therapy pool has been designed with a “hot tub feel”, with opportunities to maintain the social elements and provides expanded views of the woodlot (maintained at 92 degrees Fahrenheit, compared to a hot tub at 104 degrees Fahrenheit). The proposed design allows for flexibility of programming and maximizes the utilization of the space. As we are seeing continued growth in the need for therapeutic programming across the City, this large warm water tank will help support the needs in the Ward 8 community and beyond.

A universal changeroom is an accessible, welcome space for everyone. The space is accessible to people with reduced mobility, and allows people of all gender identities, parents, and caregivers to be together in the same space. There will be a variety of change stall sizes (individual, family, universal), and these stalls will be completely private, with nearly floor to ceiling partitions.

The City team has visited and discussed this changeroom design with many of our neighbouring municipalities who have moved to this model in recent years. They have stated that this design works very well for participants, are much more operationally efficient from a cleaning and maintenance perspective, and allows for complete flexibility in how they are used based on pool programming.