Crozier Consulting Engineers played an instrumental role in the 305-hectare redevelopment of TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley, delivering a full suite of engineering and environmental solutions for the project over the past five years.
Crozier held its 20th anniversary celebration in the new clubhouse at the golf course, located in Caledon, Ont. recently. The redevelopment includes the renovation of the championship north course, two new clubhouses, conference facilities and onsite overnight accommodations.
“The owners approached us over five years ago and asked us to begin the engineering for a larger redevelopment plan that is almost entirely realized now with the construction of the 60,000-square-foot new clubhouse,” Nick Mocan, president of Crozier, told the Daily Commercial News.
A new era for Osprey
Although the golf course has been there for many decades, the potential of the property really hasn’t been realized until recently, said Mocan.
“There are other elements that are under construction right now,” he noted. “There are 17 individual detached villas that are intended for overnight accommodations, making Osprey a golf destination…Those should be ready by next spring.”
In May, Golf Canada announced the RBC Canadian Open will be held at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley in 2025.
“It’s exciting for all of our staff, our clients and partners on the project,” said Mocan.
Crozier was responsible for civil site engineering which included two kilometres of watermain and two kilometres of sanitary sewers that discharges to a package plant which is a sequencing batch reactor on the site and treats the water prior to discharge.
One of the challenges was that the work had to be done on an active golf course.
“There is no municipal wastewater treatment plant anywhere nearby so we had to come up with a solution onsite for this development and for the various stages that are being proposed,” said Mocan.
“We came up with a really compact solution onsite that works quite well. It’s modular so it can grow as the development grows…We had to come up with a solution that could be upsized over time.”
Crozier provided all of the civil works around the clubhouse to facilitate its building permit and construction. It was designed by renowned architect William Hicks.
“It’s a 60,000-square-foot clubhouse with executive suites, overnight accommodations, conference facilities, a dynamic venue space that can grow and shrink as needed,” said Mocan.
“We brought power to the site, provided sanitary conveyance and collection out of the building, water supply for the building and stormwater management for the building and the parking areas around it…The entire clubhouse wraps around the 18th hole and it’s just a stunning venue and stunning views from there.”
There are three 18-hole golf courses on the property. The north course is the signature course where the professionals will be playing.
“The north course underwent some extensive renovations with the golf course layout to have it ready for the professionals to play,” Mocan said.
“That involved how are we going to irrigate? How are we going to make sure that this golf course is sustainable? In addition to that we had to extend two kilometres of watermain through that north course without impacting the golf course layout, so that was another challenge we had to overcome.”
Other services Crozier offered for the project were hydrogeological engineering, an analysis of groundwater patterns and ensuring the development preserved the natural groundwater cycle in that area.
There are a series of sustainable stormwater bioretention facilities onsite that are considered low impact development techniques and highly supported by the Credit Valley Conservation Authority.
“We handled a number of environment consulting items including this property has the Credit River running right through it,” said Mocan.
“Developing it around the river, we examined appropriate buffers and stormwater management that would mitigate any issues related to development. All of these bioretention facilities treat the storm flows from the site prior to discharge to the Credit River and or discharge to the subsurface where there is additional filtration.”
As part of the golf campus, Golf Canada is relocating its headquarters across the street from Osprey to create a new “Home for Canadian Golf.” Crozier is also providing civil engineering transportation for that 20,000-square-foot facility. It is expected to be completed 2025.
Celebrating 20 years of engineering
Crozier has grown significantly since its three founders started the company in January 2004 in a small house in downtown Collingwood, Ont.
“We’ve grown organically over the past 20 years to a staff of over 300,” said Mocan. “That would not be possible without clients believing in us and our people delivering for our clients.”
In 2004, Mocan joined the company after studying water resource engineering at the University of Guelph.
“We never really imagined we would see this kind of success,” said Mocan, adding Crozier now has five offices in Ontario. “We have aspirations to be a national consultancy.”
Follow the author on X/Twitter @DCN_Angela.