Pickering Heritage & Community Centre

The City of Pickering is making an investment in arts, heritage, and culture with the Pickering Heritage & Community Centre. This innovative project will bring the Museum, Library, and Community Centre into one dynamic facility.

Construction of this 44,000 square-foot facility has commenced (as of February 2024), and is being undertaken by J.R. Certus Construction Co. Ltd.

What amenities will the new facility have?

• Exhibit gallery
• Program room
• Multi-purpose hall (with a stage)
• Kitchen suitable for public programs
• Collections storage for the museum artifact collection (over 11,000 artifacts), City's archives, and the Public Library's local history collection
• Gift shop and coffee bar
• Outdoor program spaces (with an art garden and patio)
  
  

Library Spaces

The Pickering Public Library is designing two valuable spaces within this new facility: our Local History Resource Centre and an Express Library Kiosk.

The Local History Resource Centre will be a destination for a wide variety of visitors, offering access to collections, staff assistance, and innovative programming. Students, researchers, and family historians will be able to comb through documents and photographs that bring the people, places, and events of Pickering’s history, stories and journeys to life.

And for all residents, library services will be available through the Express Library Kiosk. This innovative service prototype will be open the same hours as the rest of the building and feature holds pick-up, freshly, curated collections, comfortable spaces and access to essential technology.

Where will the facility be located?
The facility will be located on the Pickering Museum Village site. #1 on the map marks where the Pickering Heritage & Community Centre will be located.

During construction, the Pickering Museum Village, located on the lower site of the property, will remain open. Vehicular traffic can enter the site via Gate #3 from Greenwood Road.

Invest in Culture

• Work towards reconciling our histories through interpretation, participation, and displays in partnership with Indigenous communities.
• Conserve and promote Ontario’s diverse heritage with dedicated climate-controlled collections storage and exhibit display spaces for Pickering Museum Village.
• Offer year-round access to arts, heritage, and culture, expanding the scope of culture-based programs and services available in the community.
• Connect people and communities by sharing and celebrating diverse pasts and bright futures through public programming and events.

Invest in Infrastructure

The City is committed to maintaining safe and accessible infrastructure for all community members, and as such, replacing the aging Greenwood Community Centre, which dates back to 1970, has been identified as a priority for the City.

Located immediately to the east of the Museum's lower site, at 3551 Greenwood Road, the Greenwood Community Centre is a roughly 8,400 square-foot, two-storey structure built of concrete block and steel framing. It was constructed in 1970 and has no wall insulation. Lack of insulation, aging windows, and the poor condition of the building envelope also makes it expensive to heat and cool.

By replacing with the Pickering Heritage & Community Centre, the City will be able to provide a modern an accessible space for community groups to gather and host a variety of programs, services, and events.

Serve the Community

• Transform the Museum into a year-round operation, significantly increasing access to programs, services, and spaces.
• Improve access to Local History collections and other community collections by centralizing in one location.
• Improve public access to Library services, technology, collections, programs, and spaces.
• Be more accessible. The new facility is expected to welcome up to 300 users at one time.

This project is guided by the City’s Cultural Strategic Plan, which sets a vision for the place of arts, culture, and heritage in the City and identifies strategic directions for policy, investment, partnerships, and programs.

The Pickering Heritage & Community Centre has a strong vision and seven guiding principles in place (Belonging & Wellbeing, Learning & Storytelling, Innovation, Adaption & Responsiveness, Discovery & Play, Sustainability, and Decolonization). View the entire PHCC Vision & Guiding Principles document here.

Engagement Opportunities

Stay tuned to this project page for upcoming community engagement opportunities!