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The City of Toronto is advancing plans for the Don Mills Community Recreation Centre (CRC), a two-storey civic hub within the Crosstown Community, a masterplanned district planning 14 buildings up to 44 storeys, but meant to serve Torontonians from across the wider Don Mills area. Designed by MacLennan Jaunkalns Miller Architects (MJMA), the facility will be within walking distance of the soon-to-open Eglinton Crosstown Line 5 Don Valley station, eventually to be an interchange station with Ontario Line 3, now under construction.
The 12,350m² rectangular site at 844 Don Mills Road occupies the northwest corner of Don Mills Road and Moriyama Drive, which is a new westerly extension of Wynford Drive, named for the famed late architect Raymond Moriyama. (Among his celebrated designs are the nearby, now shuttered Ontario Science Centre, and the former Japanese Cultural Centre, both threatened buildings.) Currently vacant land that is undergoing servicing as part of the Crosstown redevelopment, the surrounding area is transitioning from use as the extensive former Celestica campus, also once home to IBM’s Canadian headquarters, to a mixed-use neighbourhood.
The site is being redeveloped under the Wynford Green Masterplan approved in 2019. Now branded as the Crosstown Community, the Don Mills CRC was secured through the 2018 approval of the redevelopment proposal, with funding tied to its gradual buildout. Early schedules envisioned design work in 2022, construction starting in 2024, and opening in 2026. By early 2023, the City had pushed completion to late 2027, removing the adjacent park from the CRC planning process to be handled by a separate team. Later updates deferred construction further, with the start date moving to 2027 and completion projected for 2030 or even 2031. The most recent update, in May, 2025, brings the start slightly sooner again to Fall, 2026.
Accordingly, MJMA has now submitted a Site Plan Approval application to the City of Toronto on behalf of the developer for a two-storey community recreation facility with a total Gross Floor Area of 19,379m². The building would stand 16.0m tall, with a mezzanine level above its main floors, and connect directly to a new public park to the west.
Programming includes a full aquatics centre with two pools, a pair of NHL-sized ice arenas, a double gymnasium, fitness and change room facilities, multi-purpose community rooms, and administrative areas. The plan also incorporates a co-located EMS satellite post for emergency service needs. Glazing and terraces are positioned to overlook the adjoining park and public realm.
Parking and access will be provided through a single driveway from another new public road within the community, Mike Palmateer Road. The driveway will lead to an underground garage with 109 vehicle spaces, including six accessible stalls. Cyclists would have 14 long-term and 48 short-term spaces, supplemented by planned on-street cycling infrastructure and multi-use paths.
The site is roughly 400m, or about a five-minute walk, north from the future interchange station. Transit service to the site is complemented by frequent TTC buses. Painted bike lanes on Eglinton Avenue East, along with planned mixed-use paths and buffered sidewalks on Moriyama Drive and Mike Palmateer Road, will extend cycling connections to nearby parks, trails, and streets.
Much construction has already taken place within the masterplanned community. The Crosstown Place office building stands completed at nine storeys, wile under construction is Generations at 27 storeys, and One Crosstown Towers I, II, III and The Crest with four towers from eight to 39 storeys. Upcoming plans for other sections of the site include Lily at 9 storeys, three-storey townhomes, and Block 6C at 39 storeys.
There is also considerable new development just beyond Crosstown; the six-storey Phoenix Centre is proposed to the west, along with 1075 Leslie Street, planning five towers between 13 and 49 storeys. To the east, 15 Gervais Drive seeks approval for a 40-storey tower. To the south are proposals for 770 Don Mills (37 to 48 storeys), 805 Don Mills (26 and 48 storeys), 7–11 Rochefort Drive (30 to 53 storeys), and 793 Don Mills (38 to 60 storeys).
The City is targeting a Fall 2029 opening date for the Community Centre.
UrbanToronto will continue to follow progress on this development, but in the meantime, you can learn more about it from our Database file, linked below. If you'd like, you can join in on the conversation in the associated Forum thread, or leave a comment in the space provided on this page.
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