History of Richmond Hill, Ontario - A Community in Bloom

A Community in Bloom

The first woman to serve on the Richmond Hill Town Council, Margaret Southwell, began her term in 1960. Bayview Secondary School opened in 1960, providing Richmond Hill with a second high school. Construction began on Richmond Hill's first hospital, named York Central Hospital in 1961. The hospital opened on November 28, 1963 under the directorship of James Langstaff. The 1960s also saw the opening of many recreation facilities Richmond Hill was lacking after the rapid growth of the 1950s. Several new public parks were opened in the 1960s, and Richmond Hill's first public pool, dubbed Centennial Pool after Canada's Centennial, was opened in June 1965. In 1968, the town expanded its borders again, annexing 310 acres (1.3 km2) north of Elgin Mills Road. The problematic lack of recreation facilities continued however. The town's Social Planning Council convened in April 1968 and blamed increasing youth vandalism, drug use and truancy on the town's lack of recreation facilities. Social Planning Council member Pierre Burton was quoted as saying: "All we insist on are paved roads and sewers ... no one cares about a community hall or swimming pool or any other kind of recreation for adults or children." The same year, a new large ice rink was opened. The next year the town opened its first day care facility at the urging of the Social Planning Council and local women like Helen Sawyer Hogg who publicly spoke about the lack of such facilities holding back professional women. 1969 also saw the town's first winter carnival, held at Mill Pond.