$12.6-million youth hub that just opened in Mississauga called a ‘hopping place’

If early indications are to be believed, Mississauga’s newest youth centre is a big hit.

Or, as City of Mississauga Ward 5 Councillor Carolyn Parrish told her colleagues on council earlier today, the $12.6-million Malton Youth Hub Jonathan Davis Centre is “a hopping place.”

Parrish said that since opening on Oct. 10, the long-awaited renovated facility, which is attached to Lincoln Alexander Secondary School on Morning Star Drive, has seen about 300 youths come through its doors each day.

The 18,000-sq.-ft. youth hub gives young people in Malton a new place to hang out, have some fun and also learn some things, officials say.

On social media recently, Parrish described the revamped facility as an “incredible youth space in Malton serving all the various needs of kids today.”

The centre has also been described as a “one-of-a-kind” and “state-of-the-art” facility.

Jonathan Davis, 17, a Grade 12 honour roll student at Lincoln Alexander Secondary School, was shot and killed in 2019. The youth centre named for him opened on Oct. 10 of this year. 

The hub, on which construction and renovation began in January 2022, is named for a 17-year-old youth who was gunned down on the evening of Sept. 14, 2019 in a parkette outside his Darcel Avenue apartment building in Malton.

Jonathan Davis, a Grade 12 honour roll student at Lincoln Alexander, and five other innocent bystanders were hit by bullets during an outbreak of gunfire in the residential neighbourhood.

Police at the time said that seven suspects, most of them armed with semi-automatic handguns, fired some 140 rounds of ammunition in what investigators later termed a gang-related incident as numerous residents were enjoying a late-summer evening outside.

Included in the crowd were a number of children, some of them in line at a nearby ice cream truck.

Davis was described by family and friends as smart, a devoted older brother and someone who was passionate about electronics and fixing things.

On the City’s online project update site, officials said earlier that the new facility will provide services and programs “that reflect the local youth needs.”

The new hub includes:

• a large atrium for gathering
• a commercial kitchen equipped for teaching programs
• a room dedicated for youths to hang out, meet and play
• a multi-purpose room for programs, meetings and events
• small multi-purpose rooms for working and counselling

Funding for the facility came from the City of Mississauga, Region of Peel and private donors.