The new Harry Jerome Community Recreation Centre is expected to open to the public in late July 2026, after a series of construction delays pushed the project past its original completion date.
The City of North Vancouver’s $230-million facility — the largest capital project in the city’s history — was initially slated to open in early 2026, with construction substantially complete by September 2025. Site contamination, weather setbacks, and the complexity of the building’s mechanical and electrical systems pushed that timeline back several months.
Construction crews discovered contaminated soil and oversized boulders during the first year of work, causing a three-month delay that they never fully recovered. Later in the project, the intricate coordination required between the building’s advanced mechanical and electrical systems added further time to the schedule. Mechanical work is now 86 per cent complete, and electrical systems are 90 per cent done.
The city says 99.3 per cent of the work has been tendered and priced, and the project remains on budget and is expected to spend its full $230-million capital allocation.
Staff from North Vancouver Recreation and Culture will begin moving into parts of the building in May and June to set up operations and conduct training before the doors open to the public. The city plans to issue an interim occupancy permit first, allowing controlled access to areas cleared for staff use, with a full occupancy permit to follow once Vancouver Coastal Health and other regulators sign off on the aquatics areas, preschool, commercial kitchen, and café.
The new centre will replace the aging Harry Jerome Recreation Centre and Silver Harbour Seniors’ Activity Centre, combining both facilities into a single hub on the same site. A public opening celebration is planned for late July, pending final regulatory approvals.
