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East Gwillimbury opens state-of-the-art $18.5M operations centre

The 57-000-square-foot facility includes environmental features, and town's first greenhouse and tree farm
2021-06-17 East Gwillimbury operations centre
East Gwillimbury has opened a new operations centre on Woodbine Avenue.

NEWS RELEASE
TOWN OF EAST GWILLIMBURY
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The Town of East Gwillimbury is excited to share that construction of the operations centre at 19850 Woodbine Ave. is now complete. The 57,000-square-foot facility will support critical town infrastructure and core services from roads, fleet, water and wastewater, parks, facilities and emergency services training and emergency operations.

The facility will support over 120 full-time and seasonal staff throughout the year with capacity for future growth. Staff will begin to move into the new facility in phases to ensure all COVID-19 health and safety measures are followed.

The new building and 20-acre site has a modern look, with various efficiency and environmental features incorporated throughout, including collaborative meeting areas, administrative and service bays, new emergency operations centre, state-of-the-art training space, driver training area, 15,000 square-foot sand and salt dome, electronic vehicle charging stations, bicycle and carpool parking, white roof technology, a 1,400-square-foot greenhouse, and a tree farm. A full list of features both inside and outside of the facility is available at www.eastgwillimbury.ca/opscentre.

“We are extremely proud of this new facility, which includes innovative environmental features as well as our first-ever greenhouse and tree farm. We are excited to invite our residents to tour the facility just as soon as it is safe to do so” says Mayor Virginia Hackson. “This new operations centre is something our town has needed for some time, and we are very proud that it has been built with no cost to our residents, maintaining council’s commitment to our fiscal responsibility. Our next step will be to explore options for the site of the current works yard and we will be engaging our community in this process.”

Construction of the operations centre began in the summer of 2019, and was completed by Percon Construction Incorporated. The project was completed for $18.5 million and was funded entirely through development charges with no cost to the taxpayer.

The project was completed under the council approved budget and within the revised schedule due to COVID-19. To facilitate this project, Woodbine Avenue was widened in front of the facility in partnership with York Region.

Once provincial restrictions allow the Town plans to host an official opening and invite the public to see the new facility. Visit www.eastgwillimbury.ca/opscentre to learn more about the project and to watch a virtual tour of the facility.

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