Residents of all ages to benefit from new facilities
Oshawa, Ontario, January 17, 2012 – Federal, provincial and municipal officials gathered today to celebrate the renewal of the Oshawa Civic Recreation Complex and tour its new and updated amenities.
The recent expansion included constructing a new indoor field house with FIFA-size artificial turf; a new main entrance and multi-purpose rooms; installing an outdoor artificial turf playing field; and developing pathway systems and installing a children's playground.
"Investments in recreational infrastructure build strong communities and help to keep our residents healthy and active," said Colin Carrie, Member of Parliament for Oshawa, on behalf of the Honourable Denis Lebel, Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities. "Our Government is proud to have contributed to the renewal of the Oshawa Civic Recreation Complex, a project that created local jobs and will greatly improve the quality of life in Oshawa for many years."
"Our government is supporting community projects like this one to create jobs, stimulate local economies and improve the quality of life for Oshawa and Durham families," said Joe Dickson, Member of Provincial Parliament for Ajax-Pickering. "This project has not only supported more than 100 jobs through construction, but will also provide an enhanced space where residents and families can gather to play, learn and grow."
"If you build it, they will come – so we built it and here you are. Our beloved former Civic Auditorium has been given rebirth and repurpose through the collaboration of all three levels of government. The new Civic Recreation Complex gives Oshawa the leading edge as the destination of choice for tournament venues and sporting events because of this magnificent renewal and first class upgrades. Great appreciation goes out to City of Oshawa staff, our present and previous Council members for their vision, and our friends at the federal and provincial levels in making this dream a reality,"
exclaimed Mayor John Henry.
The new features of the Oshawa Civic Recreation Complex provide much needed space for members of the community and enable the City of Oshawa to offer more sports programs and activities throughout the year. These expanded facilities also encourage members of the community to maintain healthy and active lifestyles and provide the City of Oshawa with a venue to host tournaments and events.
The governments of Canada and Ontario each contributed one-third of total eligible project costs, up to a maximum of just over $6 million each. The City of Oshawa contributed the balance of the total eligible project cost of $18.9 million.
The Infrastructure Stimulus Fund is part of Canada's Economic Action Plan. Thanks to Canada's Economic Action Plan and our strong economic and financial fundamentals, the Canadian economy has recovered from the global recession better than most other industrialized countries. Canada has been a leader amongst G-7 countries throughout the recovery with nearly 600,000 net new jobs created since July 2009.
This project also supports Building Together, the Government of Ontario's long-term infrastructure plan to repair, rebuild and renew the province's roads and highways, bridges, public transit, schools and postsecondary institutions, hospitals and courthouses. Ontario is investing $12.8 billion in infrastructure projects in 2011-12, bringing the government's total infrastructure investments since 2003 to $75 billion. Building modern, efficient infrastructure has created or preserved close to 100,000 jobs each year, on average, making Ontario's economy more productive and improving quality of life, now and in the future.
For additional information about investments in infrastructure, visit infrastructure.gc.ca.
For further information about Canada's Economic Action Plan, visit actionplan.gc.ca.
To download a short broadcast-quality video highlighting a few of the many successful infrastructure projects across Canada, visit infrastructure.gc.ca/video/video-eng.html.
For more information on how Ontario is revitalizing its infrastructure, visit ontario.ca/infrastructure.
Media Contacts:
Pierre Floréa
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities
613-991-0700
Office of Joe Dickson
Member of Provincial Parliament for Ajax-Pickering
Laura Oliver – 905-999-6059
Jeremy Civiero – 416-325-1182
Mayor John Henry
City of Oshawa
905-436-5611
jhenry@oshawa.ca
Infrastructure Canada
613-960-9251
Toll-Free 1-877-250-7154
