Tamil Community Centre

Tamil Community Centre calls out for Committee Members as project looks to begin construction in 2025

February 2024

The TCC project is entering a milestone year as we launch fundraising initiatives, engage community organizations, ramp up to achieve construction approvals, and set the stage to begin construction in 2025. We need as much support as possible to get this project to the finish line. We encourage everyone to apply for one of the TCC committees by February 23 by sending your interest and resume to info@tamilcentre.ca.

In October 2023, TCC hosted an Annual General Meeting and elected a new board. We will be in touch with the community soon about updated timelines and next steps for the project.

TCC Board seeks new Directors!

August 2023

The Tamil Community Centre (TCC) is looking for volunteers for its Board of Directors. The current Board will review and approve eligible candidates to fill vacancies at an upcoming Annual General Meeting; more details of this will be shared in the coming weeks.

Please see the job posting attached in English and Tamil.. Please share widely with your networks. Deadline September 17, 2023.

Over the past three years, our Board has made significant strides in the TCC project. These include:

  • Confirming $26.3 million in funding from the provincial and federal governments
  • Negotiating the lease on land worth $25 million from the City of Toronto at 311 Staines Road in northeast Scarborough
  • Becoming a registered charity with the Canada Revenue Agency
  • Holding ongoing consultations with the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation and the Huron-Wendat
  • Completing a pre-design study representing the consultation process with the Tamil community
  • Hiring a Project Management Office and an Accounting firm for day-to-day project administration, including appropriate financial and project reporting to government and the community
  • Hiring an Architect to advance the project through the design and municipal approvals process

Town hall postponed

March 2023

The Tamil Community Centre has identified some new opportunities that may help to alleviate the financial challenges the project is experiencing in light of increased market costs, and will be taking some time to explore them. We hope these opportunities will help us successfully complete the project as planned. We are postponing the town hall scheduled for April 1st, and will return to you when we have a more fulsome update.

In the meantime we encourage you to continue responding to our Phase 3 consultation survey.

Thank you for all your support so far, and we look forward to gathering as a community soon!

Project update and consultation

Option 3 has been removed following community feedback.

March 2023

Following our first community consultation, the TCC’s construction cost estimate of a community centre that would meet the requirements of the community (approximately $40M) was based on 2019 construction costs. Based on this estimate, we applied for an ICIP grant to meet 70% of the construction costs. In 2022, we procured a Project Management Office and a Prime Consultant (architect). The consultants advanced the design of the building based on the wide consultations the TCC had conducted among individuals and community organizations. The project team completed an updated construction cost estimate which came in considerably higher than our 2019 application budget. Since the 2019 budget, there have been significant material and labour increases which have had an approximate 37% increase from Q1 2019 to Q3 2022, according to Statistics Canada. These increases are reflected in the current estimates of the construction costs. Similar construction projects are experiencing the same difficulties. The project team has exhausted options to maintain the project within the original approved budget and requires Board approval to amend the design scope of the project to work towards meeting the budgetary requirements.

We are fully dedicated to completing the project. We have written to the Provincial and Federal Governments to see if they are considering increasing funding caps towards ICIP projects in consideration of rising construction costs. We are also exploring potential government grants that can assist in mitigating these increases.

Online consultation

With this increased construction budget, we need your help deciding how we should move the project forward. Please take five minutes to fill out the online consultation below and share widely with your family, friends, and network.

TCC issues RFQ for architectural services to design community centre

May 2022

The TCC is excited to issue a RFQ for a Prime Consulting Firm to design the community centre. This will be the architectural firm that brings the community centre to life based on consultations with the community. You can access the RFQ documents here , you will need to have a registered Merx account. Proponents who are interested in submitting a response need to submit their interest by May 22. The deadline to submit a response is May 31. Please help spread the word!

A first look at the Tamil Community Centre

September 2021

We are excited to share the first design of what the Tamil Community Centre could look like! Below is a module for you to learn more about the design and provide your feedback.

The pre-design study shows how 311 Staines Road can be used for a Tamil Community Centre, both the opportunities and the constraints.

We kept five guidelines in mind for the design: (1) programming space based on consultations, (2) commitments to the environment, (3) respect to Indigenous communities, (4) solutions to resident concerns, and (5) Tamil culture and history.

The design is inspired by traditional Tamil architecture (a central courtyard), the Tamil language and concepts from ancient Sangam poetry (landscape), and the Tamil people’s history of migration, refuge and asylum (a ship).

Aerial Perspective

Aerial Perspective

In this rendering, you can see all major features of the site: the building in the northeast corner, the field, the children’s playground, and the meadow. You can see the letter ழ traced into the landscape. The building incorporates the Mullai and the Kurinci rising from a flat service with trees to a higher point like a hill. Ample parking is provided to alleviate traffic concerns while also recognizing that many people who live in the area will walk, bike, or take transit. There is also a vehicle pickup and drop off area to discourage car usage and parking. The building is located in the most northeast corner of the site with a low building profile to be as minimally intrusive as possible to local residents who live nearby. To act as a public amenity, the roof will be designed as a green roof providing people with an opportunity to walk and enjoy elevated views of the Rouge National Urban Park. Hiking trails will connect the TCC site to the ark.. The site will also be rewilded with many trees sheltering the site from the main road. The site and building have been kept relatively low while using landforms and geography to provide universal accessibility. All colours used for the building are earth tones that blend in with the natural environment.

West Perspective

West Perspective

In this rendering, you are facing east from Staines Road the form of the building is reminiscent of a glimmering ship run aground on a welcoming shore. These are the cultural components; library, archives, and museum, paying homage to the Tamil people’s modern histories of migration, refuge, and asylum. You can also see the many walkable areas for everyone, as an intergenerational place for congregation and socializing.

Southwest Perspective

Southwest Perspective

In this rendering facing northeast from Staines Road, a dynamic cross-section of movement and activity can be experienced including the vehicle drop off area and how people can use the site's many public amenities such as cycling, running, sport or just enjoying the outdoors.

East perspective

East perspective

In this rendering facing northwest from the field. To provide local residents privacy, the part of the ship that is facing the homes in the neighbourhood will use an opaque material. This also allows people using the library, archives, and museum a quiet moment for reflection. As the ship goes from opaque to transparent material it faces the homelands, providing a symbolic gesture of people’s minds clearing as they look homeward. You see people on the green roof watching people playing on the field and taking in the beautiful sights of the Rouge National Urban Park. The keel of the ship is clearly visible.