The community of Ward 2 in Ajax is asking for transparency from town officials over the sale of Sundial Pavilion.
“Please note the community of Ward 2 is not opposed to the daycare facility but with the Town of Ajax and their lack of transparency with tax payers,” said a member of a resident action group over the sale.
What residents object to, the group says, is what came with the sale:
- An expansion beyond the building’s footprint and onto the adjacent public green space.
- A parking lot in the middle of the field.
- A sports court.
- Waste collection in sight of houses.
- Fencing across the walking loop.
- And the removal of 14 mature trees.
None of it was put to the neighbourhood before it was decided, it said.
The group has set up a website entitled: Our park was not for sale.
It states that the Town of Ajax has sold the Sundial Pavilion. The public green space around it is going too — to a parking lot and a sports court. Residents found out on 23 July. Four days later the trees came down.
Sell Decision Two Years Before Public Was Told
The website alleges that nine (9) months passed between the sale and residents being told. It says the property was sold in October 2025, according to a town public notice; residents learned about it on 23 July 2026.
It says the decision to sell was taken at a council meeting on 24 June 2024 — two years before residents were told.
Item 9.3 of that meeting, “Sale of Underutilized Town Facilities, Hartrick House and Sundial Pavilion,” was moved by Mayor Collier, seconded by Deputy Mayor Lee, and carried. Both properties were dealt with in the same motion, the action group website says.
It quoted the town’s Deputy Chief Administrative Officer Nicole Cooper, as answering to a councillor’s query that a public meeting on the issue was not required.
Community Park
The action group says that the Sundial community has used this park for 15 years — for soccer, cricket and volleyball, for the town’s own free summer drop-in program, for learning to ride a bike on the sidewalk loop, for a toddler’s first steps, and as a safe path for older neighbours getting their daily exercise. The loop is now severed. It said the town says staff are investigating a new pedestrian crossing in the area.
The property at 99 Barnham Street was built as the sales centre for the Sundial development. When the homes sold, the building became the neighbourhood’s pavilion and the field around it became the park.
The Town of Ajax has sold the building to a private operator for use as a licensed childcare facility and community hub. “Residents are not opposed to childcare in this neighbourhood, and this campaign is addressed to the town, not to the operator,” says the website.
The parking lot, the sports court and the loss of the walking loop are still proposed on land that the Official Plan designates Open