Advertisement

Ontario to open interim science centre next summer at Harbourfront Centre

People arrive at a pop-up Ontario Science Centre located in Sherway Gardens mall in Toronto, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette. NSD/

Ontario is set to open an interim science centre next summer on Toronto’s waterfront, two years after the province abruptly closed the old location in the city’s east end.

A press release today from Tourism Minister Stan Cho says the temporary location will be at the Harbourfront Centre, which has been hosting one of two pop-up locations — the other site at Sherway Gardens mall in west Toronto will close Jan. 4.

Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.

Get daily National news

Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.
By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

While the temporary science centre will open with a larger footprint than the current pop-up exhibit, at about 86,000 square feet it will still be a fraction of the size of the old location, which was 568,000 square feet.

The province abruptly closed the science centre in June 2024 with only a few hours’ warning, saying the roof needed urgent repairs — a claim workers and critics dispute.

Premier Doug Ford’s government is planning to open a new, permanent science centre at Ontario Place, a move critics charge is just to provide them cover for the controversial spa and waterpark planned there by Europe-based company Therme.

Story continues below advertisement

The last update from the government on when the science centre would open at Ontario Place came in June from Ford, who said “hopefully 2029.”

Sponsored content

AdChoices