FAQs

In December 2020, Council approved a plan to build a new community centre in Newton as part of the Surrey Invests 5-year capital projects program to meet the growing demand for recreation services in this community. 

The new Newton Community Centre will be a state-of-the-art facility for all ages. The facility will be built to meet the City’s Sustainability Charter and accessibility initiatives.

Community consultation will take place this summer. Construction is planned to begin in 2022/23 and is expected to be completed in 2024/25.

This is the needs analysis completed as part of the 10-year strategic plan:

https://www.surrey.ca/sites/default/files/media/documents/SurreyPRCNeedsAnalysis.pdf

This is the corporate report on the master plan:

https://www.surrey.ca/sites/default/files/corporate-reports/RPT_2006_R124.pdf

This is the facility and amenity inventory:

https://www.surrey.ca/sites/default/files/media/documents/PRC%20Facility%20and%20Amenity%20Inventory.pdf

This is the Parks, Recreation and Culture Strategic Plan:

https://www.surrey.ca/vision-goals/parks-recreation-culture-plans/parks-recreation-culture-strategic-plan

The site at 6965 King George Blvd was selected because it is large enough to accommodate a community centre that can offer more services and is easily accessed by transit, vehicles and pedestrians. Its central location near the business centre of the Newton community meets our Master Plan goal to have highly walkable communities. This site creates opportunities to anchor both ends of the central hub with important amenities while serving both the west and east sides of King George Highway.

As the City is continually looking at opportunities to expand services and capacity, our real estate division is always looking at new properties and sites that offer potential. This site, which came available recently, fits many of the site requirements and is compatible with the Newton Town Centre land-use plan. The site itself is located within the town centre or central business districted designated central hub of the Newton Community. The site creates opportunities to anchor both ends of the central hub with important amenities while serving both the west and east sides of King George Highway.

Staff are continually reviewing needs and conducting updates to the 10-year master plan and responding to input from residents, public consultations, delegations and stakeholder groups as other projects occur in the community. 

Currently, what is envisioned long term is a project similar to the size and scale of the Clayton Community Centre that includes a multipurpose community centre and co-location of recreation, culture, parks and library amenities in a campus setting with good accessibility and connectivity through community planning to the amenities on the existing wave pool site. This complements the notion of walkable communities in the transportation strategic plan and the neighbourhood concept and town centre plans for Newton.

We are limited by the site capacity and current budget allocation for this phase, but the intent is to explore options for a multipurpose centre that complements recreation, culture and library amenities at the existing location near the wave pool complex. By working together with other funding partners, other levels of governments and agencies, there is more potential and all future considerations are strengthened by community input and contributions and a clear vision.

This new state of the art, community hub will be achieved through a multi-phase development with the potential to provide aquatic, cultural, library and recreation services to meet the demand of the fast-growing Newton community.

The budget that we have now will be used to build a new community centre that will serve as a focal point for the community – all ages and needs.

The plan is to include a mix of recreation amenities, culture, and library spaces, as we did for the Clayton Community Centre. We are consulting with residents and a variety of key stakeholders to determine the unique needs of the community. The building will be designed so that we can integrate amenities using a phased approach over time.

The City is actively pursuing funding from other levels of government to secure funding for a new pool at this location. An estimated $50 million in additional funding would be required.

The Surrey Libraries Facilities Master plan, recently reviewed by Council, (CR_2021-R140.pdf (surrey.ca)) identified a significant need for added size and capacity for libraries in the Newton area. In light of this, staff are envisioning a significant component of this project will include library amenities to complement existing capacity within Newton. Additional community input is needed to help plan a community-tailored space.

The pool at the Newton Recreation Centre will remain operational until funding is secured to build a new pool. Decommissioning the existing pool is currently not a funded project. Other parts of the centre, including fitness areas, gymnasiums and mat rooms are in high demand and will remain operational for now. Newton Seniors Centre and the arena will remain operational.

There are no plans to change the space or services at the existing Newton Seniors Centre. The facility is functional and will remain operational, so any expanded capacity at the new community centre will complement those services within a new community centre.