By Gazette Staff
August 30th, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
The City of Burlington is pleased to announce the phased opening of the Robert Bateman Community Centre, a transformative multi-use facility that will serve as a vibrant hub for education, recreation, and community engagement.
This September, Brock University will officially welcome students to a dynamic learning environment at its Burlington Campus. This marks a major milestone in the evolution of the City’s largest facility.
Additional key milestones include:
Library portion of the Bateman Centre will open during September.
September: The gymnasiums be available to both Brock University students and the broader community until those renovations begin, with the goal of minimizing disruption to community access.
Sept. 15: Burlington Public Library opens its relocated New Appleby Branch, featuring a large collection of materials to borrow, comfortable seating, soundproof digital media studios, bookable meeting rooms, and an engaging children’s area.
Nov. 24: TechPlace to open and offer services.
Fall 2025: Halton District School Board is expected to take occupancy.
Late 2025 to Early 2026: City staff will present a comprehensive report to Council detailing proposed options and timelines for Phase 2 of the Robert Bateman Community Centre renovations. This next phase will focus on completing the remaining indoor areas and developing the outdoor spaces surrounding the facility.
A grand opening celebration for the Robert Bateman Community Centre is being planned for early 2026. Once details are confirmed, invitations will be extended to Burlington residents and community partners to join in marking this exciting milestone.
In the meantime, only portions of the facility that are actively offering services are open to the public. Other areas remain closed as work continues. For safety reasons, access to these sections is restricted to authorized personnel, including construction crews and City staff.
The City just can’t stop patting itself on the back for a development that was almost as costly as the Pier. The historical timeline on this one:
Aerial view of Bateman as a High School. Track and sports field became a parking lot.
2017 – the Board of Education considers closing two high schools in Burlington.
2020 – June 30 – Bateman High School closes.
2021 – June – The school board declared Bateman as surplus.
2021 – June 23 – Burlington issues a press release:
2021 – December 14 – Council approved $3 million for a preliminary design
There was no mention of a total project cost at that time. The 2021 Engagement Matters report stated: “Preliminary engagement has occurred with key stakeholders and partners. As part of the scope of work outlined in the RFP, a public engagement plan will be developed and delivered in the future as a fundamental component of the environmental, preliminary design, and architectural and engineering services.”
The city did not present a public engagement plan until after the contract for Phase One was issued.
2022 – April – Councilor Shawna Stolte is sanctioned for stating, in late 2021, “the reality is that the final cost will be well above $50M.” Councilor Stolte lost a week’s pay.
2022 – May – Burlington starts public engagement on the Bateman project without presenting costs or the need for additional parking. The video is available here: https://www.getinvolvedburlington.ca/bateman-highschool/widgets/149117/videos/10649
2022 – October 26th – Municipal elections are held across Ontario. Every member of Council was returned to office in the 2022 municipal election.
2022 – November 22 – The city announces a land swap, plus $7.9 million, with the Board of Education and Burlington acquires the Bateman property. https://www.burlington.ca/en/news/city-of-burlington-completes-deal-to-purchase-robert-bateman-high-school.aspx
2022 – November 25 – The city announces the cost is now over $72 million. https://www.burlington.ca/en/news/redesign-adaptive-re-use-and-costing-plan-proposed-for-former-robert-bateman-high-school-building.aspx
While there are many unusual aspects to the Bateman project one that stands out is that before the election there was no mention of the building containing asbestos, apparently, this was public knowledge. After the election, information started to appear about the true cost of the renovation. The project is on track to cost over $100 million. Much of the renovated building will be leased by Brock University and the Haltech Regional Innovation Centre.
John Best, publisher of the Bay Observer said: “I submit that the city engaged in deliberate obfuscation of the financial scope of the project, as they engaged in public consultation. Indeed, those members of the public who participated in surveys and town halls had no idea for what they were actually providing buy-in, making the public consultation piece a sham“.
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Why is Burlington City Council Not telling us what the cost to date is for Bateman? (And not yet 100% completed).
Burlington Taxpayers are paying for it, and we have every right to know!
A slip of the tongue indicated the price tag would be “well above $50 million”. So when will we know the actual figure? Will it be forthcoming or will only find out by resorting to an FOI request? My guess is if it was well below $50 million we would know by now.
Editor’s note: During a Agenda programme Mayor Meed Ward told Steve Paiken that the city had spend $100 million. Paiken was aghast.
Agree with John Best. And yes, most of the surveys and community engagement sessions are non transparent with misleading information rigged to fool the public into approving the astronomical budget increases. Heck they can’t even be transparent about the true budget cost increases without layering the information with other misleading facts that hides the true numbers. And they ignore us when we ask them to be more clear and transparent. And then they punish the 1 councillor who was trying to be straight with us!!
Agree completely with John Best’s comment, and can’t help thinking how that applies to all the engagement taken from residents by the city — budget feedback, food for feedback, surveys, etc — “those members of the public who participated in surveys and town halls had no idea for what they were actually providing buy-in, making the public consultation piece a sham“.
Also, when some workers were critically injured near the beginning of the construction while working and removing asbestos, our mayor, council and city was shamefully quiet, seemingly pretending it hadn’t happened. An immediate statement expressing concern for the workers’ wellbeing and hopes for their full recovery would be considered proper human behaviour, let alone be expected from supposed leaders.