Recreation, Parks and Culture Master Plan - Town of Ajax

Recreation, Parks & Culture Facilities
As part of a new multi‐use community centre, the Town
should include an active living studio and an indoor
walking track to encourage physical activity during all
seasons and among all age groups.
The Town should include a small‐scale fitness facility at
the St. Andrew’s Community Centre that is specifically for
the use of the older adult population. At a minimum, this
should include a studio space with wood‐sprung floors
and sufficiently high ceilings to accommodate a range of
fitness programs.
The Town should evaluate new and existing outdoor
community spaces for their ability to accommodate
active living and wellness programming opportunities as
a means to add value to open spaces through
encouraging passive recreation.
The Town should continue to develop innovative and
interesting programs that will respond to the needs of its
growing population, particularly the older adult market.
The Town should also consider ways to engage residents
of different ethnic backgrounds in order to encourage
physical activities that appeal to a wide range of
residents.
Gymnasiums
The only municipally‐owned gymnasium is located at the McLean
Community Centre, however, the Town facilitates community
access to four community schools through an agreement with
local school boards. A service target of 1 municipally‐owned
gymnasium per 50,000 residents is sufficient to meet the needs of
the population and will allow the Town to maintain a degree of
authority over operations and scheduling (whereas this is not
always possible in school‐owned gyms or shared facilities).
Based on a 1:50,000 target, Ajax would require a second
municipal gymnasium by the year 2009. It is recommended that
the Town provide a municipal gymnasium at the new multi‐use
community centre and even though this is expected to occur in
2011, short‐term gymnasium needs are expected to be met
through continued access to community schools.
Action Plans:
The provision of a full gymnasium is recommended for
inclusion as part of the first phase of development for the
proposed multi‐use community centre. This would assist
in augmenting programming opportunities at school
gyms which may not otherwise be available for certain
users.
The Town should make every effort to maintain
community access to school gyms to serve any
neighbourhood‐level demands.
Indoor Turf
The Town does not own or operate an indoor turf facility.
Municipalities are increasingly entering into the realm of
providing indoor turf facilities due to the significant growth in
indoor soccer, however, these facilities are not generally
considered to be a standard level of service as of yet.
MONTEITH BROWN PLANNING CONSULTANTS in association with Tucker‐Reid & Associates & The JF Group
April 2008
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