The Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre (TPASC; ) is a sports complex in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada. Co-owned by the

City of Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

and the

University of Toronto Scarborough The University of Toronto Scarborough, also known as U of T Scarborough or UTSC, is one of the three campuses that make up the tri-campus system of the University of Toronto. Located in Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the campus is set upo ...

, it is operated by TPASC Inc., with programming offered by both the university and Toronto Parks, Forestry & Recreation. It is located at the northern grounds of the university's Scarborough campus near the intersection of

Highway 401 King's Highway 401, commonly referred to as Highway 401 and also known by its official name as the Macdonald–Cartier Freeway or colloquially referred to as the four-oh-one, is a controlled-access 400-series highway in the Canadian provin ...

and

Morningside Avenue Morningside Avenue is a suburban arterial road in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is entirely within Scarborough, running north by north-west from the Scarborough Bluffs overlooking Lake Ontario to the eastern terminus of McNicoll Avenue near the ...

in the suburb of

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, su ...

. 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 pool An Olympic-size swimming pool conforms to regulated dimensions that are large enough for international competition. This type of swimming pool is used in the Olympic Games, where the race course is in length, typically referred to as "long cour ...

s 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 Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), a ...

fencing Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also ''saber''); winning points are made through the weapon's contact with an opponent. A fourth discipline, s ...

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

synchronized swimming Synchronized swimming (in British English, synchronised swimming) or artistic swimming is a sport where swimmers perform a synchronized choreographed routine, accompanied by music. The sport is governed internationally by FINA (the ''Fédérati ...

and

modern pentathlon The modern pentathlon is an Olympic sport consisting of fencing (one-touch épée), freestyle swimming, equestrian show jumping, pistol shooting, and cross country running. The event is inspired by the traditional pentathlon held during the anci ...

competitions during the

2015 Pan American Games Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music *Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak alb ...

. Funding for the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre is the largest single investment in amateur sports in the history of Canada.

History

The facility was funded by the

Government of Canada The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown ...

, the

Government of Ontario The government of Ontario (french: Gouvernement de l'Ontario) is the body responsible for the administration of the Canadian province of Ontario. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown—represented in the province by the lieutenant governor� ...

, the City 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 CA$205 million ($158 million to design and build it) which makes it the largest amount spent on amateur sport in Canada.Groundbreaking kicks-off start of construction for Pan Am and Parapan Am Aquatics Centre and Field House presented by CIBC
The official ground breaking for the facility was on 27 September 2012 and was attended by

Toronto Mayor The mayor of Toronto is the head of Toronto City Council and chief executive officer of the municipal government. The mayor is elected alongside city council every four years on the fourth Monday of October; there are no term limits. While in ...

Rob Ford Robert Bruce Ford (May 28, 1969 – March 22, 2016) was a Canadian politician and businessman who served as the 64th mayor of Toronto from 2010 to 2014. Before and after his term as mayor, Ford was a city councillor representing Ward 2 Etobi ...

. The facility was announced then as the largest venue being built for the

and represents the largest federal investment in amateur sport in Canadian history. In addition to the 2015 Pan Am Games, the facility has hosted several other events for the

North American Indigenous Games The North American Indigenous Games is a multi-sport event involving indigenous North American athletes staged intermittently since 1990. The Games are governed by the North American Indigenous Games Council, a 26-member council of representatives ...

and the

Invictus Games The Invictus Games is an international multi-sport event first held in 2014, for wounded, injured and sick servicemen and women, both serving and veterans. The word 'Invictus' means 'unconquered', chosen as an embodiment of the fighting spi ...

in 2017.

Design

Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre Pan Am Games Entrance

The architect of the facility is David Clusiau.

PCL Construction The PCL family of companies is a group of independent general contracting construction companies in Canada, the United States, Australia and the Caribbean. PCL has headquarters in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, with the United States head office in D ...

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 The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

aquatic centre.Scarborough's Pan-Am pool designer created Atlanta Olympics facility
/ref> The facility has been awarded Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold label.

Aquatics centre

The centre has three pools: the dive pool (25m), the competition pool (50m) and the training pool (50m). The competition pool has 3,500 seats.PanAm aquatics centre’s ‘dynamic silhouette’ to highlight transparency
/ref> The facility doubles the number of Olympic pools in Toronto. The dive pool has 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. The competition pool is regarded as one of the fastest pools in the world. Public lane swim and leisure swim typically takes place in the training pool, while team practice and competition takes place in the competition pool. Ticket prices for lane swim are the same as other City pools.

Field house

The field house is adjacent to the aquatics centre and seats 2,000 people. The field house hosted

and

(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 Weightlifting generally refers to activities in which people lift Weight training#Equipment, weights, often in the form of dumbbells or barbells. People lift various kinds of weights for a variety of different reasons. These may include various t ...

equipment and a training area. It is also the home of the Canadian Sports Institute Ontario (CSIO). Starting in 2022, the field house will play host to home games for the

Scarborough Shooting Stars The Scarborough Shooting Stars are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They compete in the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) and play their home games at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre ...

of the Canadian Elite Basketball League.

Other facilities

The centre also has a climbing wall, a fitness centre, retail store, food and beverage, and 200m walking track.

Major competitions hosted

References

External links

*
Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre at the University of Toronto ScarboroughToronto Pan Am Sports Centre at the 2015 Pan Am Games
{{2015 Parapan American Games venues University of Toronto buildings University sports venues in Canada Sports venues in Toronto Buildings and structures in Scarborough, Toronto Swimming venues in Canada Venues of the 2015 Pan American Games Venues of the 2015 Parapan American Games 2014 establishments in Ontario Sports venues completed in 2014