The Abilities Centre: An Overview
The Abilities Centre will be a world class recreation, athletic and performing arts facility fully accessible to all persons with varying degrees of abilities and challenges. Situated in the heart of the Central Eastern Lake Ontario Region, the Abilities Centre will be an international leader in helping people of all ages focus on their abilities and enhance their confidence and independence through state-of-the art facilities.
The Abilities Centre is partnering with the Iroquois Park Sports Centre and will build on their existing facilities and services. The new 125,000 square foot barrier-free facility will include a field house which will contain a walking/training track and full-size courts suitable for activities meeting the needs of all individuals with special needs, including: wheelchair basketball, goal ball (for visually impaired), volleyball and movement education classes as well as a fitness facility, life skills, art and music programs, performing arts components and much more.
The facility will bring a much-needed resource to the region and has evolved through the generous support of all levels of government as well as the private sector. From its vision only 10 years ago, the projected physical costs have been the major focus of the fundraising campaign. This $34 million coupled with continuing fundraising initiatives will allow the Centre to open its doors in the fall of 2011. Innovative private and public partners are in place to help grow the facility through naming rights, shared services and rental fees.
We believe that involving the community reduces the isolation felt by many people with special needs, and raises awareness and acceptance of their role as an essential part of the whole community. The mission of the Abilities Centre is to create a centre that will enrich the quality of life of people with special needs, and/or those who have varying degrees of abilities and challenges, which will enable them to:
Statistics Canada research indicates that 14.3% of the general population has a disability and the number is increasing, especially in the Abilities Centre catchment area – one of the fastest growing regions in the country. The Abilities Centre will be one of Canada’s largest sports, recreation and performing arts complexes to offer a full range of recreation and rehabilitation programs. The facility will serve the growing number of people with special needs in the Eastern Lake Ontario Region, as well as host regional, provincial, national and international special events.
And the Abilities Centre will not wait long before being thrust onto the international stage – the 2015 Parapan American Games Committee has chosen the new facility for the Wheelchair Basketball competition and the adjoining Iroquois Park Sports Centre has been chosen as the site for the tennis component for the same international competition.
The Abilities Centre is a grassroots local organization with a national and international focus. It will be one of the largest recreation and rehabilitation complexes for people with special needs and/or varying degrees of abilities and challenges and health related requirements in Canada. And, of course, it will offer first-class facilities to able-bodied individuals throughout the region. It will be the only facility of its kind to offer programs and services to people of all ages with special needs, including children, youth and adults. The facility will respond to the particular need for programs for older youth and adults with special needs – currently a very under-serviced sector in our society.
This unique building will also provide meeting and conference room facilities in addition to music, arts and performing arts areas – all with universal requirements in mind. These facilities will not only serve the needs of those with disabilities they will also be a source of continuing education and training for various heath care professionals and educators who serve this growing constituency of our population. Other programs that focus on music, art, drama and sensory stimulation will also be available as they offer phenomenal benefits from therapeutic, recreation and social perspectives. In addition, the facility will offer “life skills” training, which is especially important for youth and adults with development disabilities.
People (and their families) with special needs will use the facility as a focal point of information and support received from highly trained personnel who will be located and trained on the premises. This capability underscores the Abilities Centre’s primary goal of becoming a global “centre of excellence” for both knowledge and insight into programming and services for people who have disabilities and other health-care related requirements.
The Abilities Centre will be a living exhibition of inclusion. It will produce affordable and transferable best practices to centres across the country. By creating a facility that is specifically designed to provide a dynamic and comprehensive range of services for people with special needs and/or varying degrees of abilities and challenges, the Abilities Centre will become a world-class centre of excellence for adaptive and inclusive living.
