7/17/2010 9:05:49 AM

July 14, 2010

Government partnership celebrates new sports facility

The City of Toronto held a ceremony today to celebrate the opening of a multi-purpose sports pad at L’Amoreaux Park in the Scarborough community.

Paul Calandra, Member of Parliament for Oak Ridges-Markham, on behalf of the Honourable Gary Goodyear, Minister of State for FedDev Ontario; Gerry Phillips, Member of Provincial Parliament for Scarborough-Agincourt; and Councillor Mike Del Grande (Ward 39 Scarborough-Agincourt) are pleased to see the completion of this important community infrastructure project.

The new sports facility, situated on the Hydro Corridor adjacent to the Kidstown splash pad in L'Amoreaux Park, includes a basketball court and a miniature soccer field. The governments of Canada and Ontario have each committed up to $140,000 to the project, while the City of Toronto will contribute $151,200, for a total project cost of $431,200. The City of Toronto is leasing the land from Hydro One through the Ontario Realty Corporation.

“Investing in this multi-purpose facility will benefit families, friends and neighbours across the city by providing an opportunity to stay active and enjoy the community,” said MP Calandra. “Through Canada’s Economic Action Plan, our government is working to improve recreation facilities to create jobs and improve the lives of residents across Ontario.”

“The project we are celebrating today supports our government’s Open Ontario plan to stimulate the economy and create new opportunities for jobs and growth,” said MPP Phillips. “In Scarborough, Open Ontario is supporting local trades and businesses while promoting a stronger, healthier community.”

“This is a wonderful occasion for our entire community to celebrate," said Councillor Del Grande. "Beyond Jane-Finch, Steeles L'Amoreaux has the second largest youth population of all the priority neighbourhoods, according to the 2006 census data. Despite the high number of youth, there is a well documented shortage of youth recreational facilities in this neighbourhood. Through the City of Toronto’s POL fund and with the help of our federal and provincial government partners, the new sports pad at L'Amoreaux Park helps to meet an important need of our local youth.”

The POL Fund was created to build community infrastructure and enhance space for community programming and service needs. The fund gives priority to youth-focused initiatives at the neighbourhood level. For every dollar the City invests, approximately $1.90 has been leveraged in partnership funding. At program completion, it is anticipated that $37.7 million will have been invested in Toronto’s 13 priority neighbourhoods, of which $13 million is a direct City investment.

This project is one of more than 760 across the province that is moving forward thanks to a joint federal-provincial investment of more than $380 million under the Recreational Infrastructure Canada (RInC) Program in Ontario and the Ontario Recreation Program (Ontario REC). The governments of Canada and Ontario teamed up to support Ontario's communities and create jobs by improving recreational infrastructure, as these types of projects also encourage higher levels of participation in physical activity and community building. For more information about this initiative, visit www.rinc-on.ca.