Walter Baker Sports Centre is located in

Barrhaven Barrhaven is a suburb of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is located about southwest of the city's downtown core. Prior to amalgamation with Ottawa in 2001, Barrhaven was part of the City of Nepean. Its population as of the Canada 2021 Census was 103, ...

a suburb in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

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 in the former City of

Nepean Nepean may refer to: Places Australia *Nepean Bay, a bay in South Australia, **Nepean Bay Conservation Park, a protected area in South Australia, **Nepean Bay, South Australia, a locality *Nepean Highway, Victoria *Nepean Island (Norfolk Island) ...

at 100 Malvern Drive. Walter Baker has been attached to

John McCrae Secondary School John McCrae Secondary School is a public secondary school in the Nepean, Ontario, Nepean district of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It supports grades 9-12. Built in 1999, it is the primary public high school in Barrhaven, replacing its predecessor, C ...

since the school was built in 1999. The centre has 2 ice hockey rinks and maintains both rinks in the summer season. Housing the Ruth E. Dickinson branch of the

Ottawa Public Library The Ottawa Public Library (OPL; french: Bibliothèque publique d'Ottawa) is the library system of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The library was founded in 1906 with a donation from the Carnegie Foundation. Services * Information and reference servi ...

, the building also includes a pool area with 4 pools, a hot tub, a rock wall, an inflatable obstacle course (Wibit), and a steam room. The building also offers an upper gym with weights and cardio machines and a lower gym with free weights, as well as 4 squash courts. The centre is served by

OC Transpo OC Transpo, officially the Ottawa-Carleton Regional Transit Commission, is the public transit agency for the city of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It operates an integrated hub-and-spoke system including light metro, bus rapid transit, conventional ...

routes 170, 173 & 272.

History

Walter Baker was first known as South Nepean Centre. It was built for the former City of

Nepean, Ontario Nepean ( ) is a former municipality and now geographic area of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Located west of Ottawa's inner core, it was an independent city until amalgamated with the Regional Municipality of Ottawa–Carleton in 2001 to become the ne ...

in 1980 and was officially opened on October 4, 1980 by

Ben Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading intell ...

, then the

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

. It wasn't until November 24, 1983 that the centre was named in memory of Walter Baker, the local

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for Nepean-Carleton.

Facilities

Arena

Walter Baker has two ice rinks in the arena area. Both rinks are

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

size 200x85 feet. Both rinks are maintained throughout the winter and summer seasons. Nepean Minor Hockey Association is a hockey league that uses these arena's the most. There is also many other groups including Nepean Ringette, Many local Men's Leagues and Skating Clubs.

Pool

The Pool area has a 25-metre lap pool, dive tank, a training pool, a rock climbing wall in the dive tank, children's pool, inflatable obstacle course (Wibit), and a hot tub for swimming activities. There is also a steam room located beside the hot tub. The pool is used by many groups and the City of Ottawa offers many programs and lessons for all ages. The pool is also used by many swim and diving clubs. All pools are supervised by highly trained and skilled lifeguards.

References

External links

Walter Baker Sports Centre
{{Portal bar, Ontario Indoor ice hockey venues in Canada Soccer venues in Canada Sports venues in Ottawa Art museums and galleries in Ontario