In the history books, the City of Vaughan, as we would know it today, would be considered a newbie. Only 25 years old, one could say the city known as the “City above Toronto” has been through a lot in its short existence: a population boom; natural disasters; and the honour of being the first city outside of Toronto to get the subway.

But like many other GTA suburbs, searching and struggling to find their own unique identity, Vaughan still has a lot of growing up to do. The city is inviting residents to join in a celebration at city hall Thursday, or on social media (#Vaughan25), to reminisce about the days bygone and look to the future. Here’s glance at some of the highlights from the past quarter-century.

1991: Previously known as the Town of Vaughan, the municipality is made up of towns and villages, including Maple, Concord, Kleinberg, Thornhill and Woodbridge. It was incorporated on Jan. 1 and became the first city in York Region, with a population of 100,000 souls.

2000: Vaughan was one of the fastest-growing cities in the country over the past decade. It even achieved a population growth rate of 80 per cent according to Statistics Canada. The city’s current population is more than 320,000. With the boom, came issues of sprawl, traffic and congestion — which remain.

2002: The closure of the Keele Valley Landfill, which at 240 acres was one of the largest dumps in Canada. For two decades, Toronto had been tossing its trash into the 75-metre-deep pit. Part of it, once used for composting, is now being converted into a park.

2004: Vaughan Mills opened up on the corner of Rutherford and Jane Sts. The mall, which has 250 stores, and features the amusement park Legoland, is billed as a tourist attraction for the GTA.

2006: Ontario commits $670 million to extend the Spadina subway to the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre. The project is being paid for by the federal government, the province, York Region and the City of Toronto. The subway was slated for 2016 opening, but has been delayed to 2017.

2009: An F2 force tornado with winds peaking at 240 km/hr struck parts of Vaughan, damaging 600 homes and leaving 44 unsafe for occupancy. There were no injuries or deaths but the city was in a state of emergency for two days.

2012: Behold the Leviathan. Canada’s Wonderland opened in 1981 but completed the tallest and fastest roller coaster in the country – coming in at 93.3 metres on the ride’s initial drop at an angle of 80 degrees while reaching speeds of 148 km/hr.

2014: After nearly 23 million rides, the country’s first standing up rollercoaster, Skyrider, had its last hurrah.

2015: Vaughan’s hospital project begins tendering process. A complicated land-deal held up the project for a decade, but Mackenzie Heath officials say the project is slated to open in 2019. Local residents started paying off $80-million for hospital lands through a surcharge on their property taxes in 2009 and will do so until 2022.

2015: Vaughan enters the world of professional sport, with Toronto FC II, a professional soccer team that competes in USL PRO, a division of U.S. Major League Soccer. Toronto FC II began competing last year and plays home games at the Ontario Soccer Centre located in Vaughan.

Correction - January 13, 2015: This article was edited from a previous version that mistakenly omitted the federal government from the list of funding partners for the Spadina Subway extension. As well, according to the TTC's most recent numbers, the province is funding $1.059 billion, the federal government, $697 million, and the balance is shared by Toronto (59.96 per cent) and York Region (40.04 per cent).



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