The Ford government has awarded the contract to design and build a relocated science centre at Ontario Place, which it says could be open “as early” as 2029.
The province has put a new science centre at the heart of its plans to overhaul Ontario Place, which will be redeveloped to include a spa and waterpark, a new music venue and parkland.
The redevelopment is one of Premier Doug Ford’s signature projects, hoping to revitalize an area of Toronto’s waterfront he believes has fallen into disrepair and turn it into a key tourism destination.
“I am just so excited about this, I just can’t begin to tell you, this is going to be incredible,” Ford raved on Thursday morning. “We’re changing the face of not just Ontario but Toronto specifically.”
Ford’s plan to add the science centre to his redevelopment of Ontario Place accelerated in June 2024, when the government abruptly announced the attraction was closing forever at its Don Mills and Eglinton location, citing safety concerns.
Although internal documents show the closure was planned for more than a week, it was only made public a few hours before the Ontario Science Centre was boarded up for good.
The closure saw some of the science centre’s attractions decant to a mall in the west of the city and the Harborfront Centre as pop-ups, before moving to an interim location.
Advocates have accused the government of deliberately neglecting the science centre leading up to the closure and choosing to close it when it could have been repaired instead.
They’ve argued that relocating the Ontario Science Centre is being driven by improving the appeal of Ontario Place at the expense of other areas in the city. Ford repeated that the building needed to be urgently closed down, suggesting he thought its location at Don Mills and Eglinton had helped drive the decision to shutter it.
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“The old one — terrible location, first of all,” he said. “And secondly, it’s decrepit. The stories I heard from mould; it was just unsafe.”
Critics aren’t convinced, continuing to argue the government is moving the building to boost Ontario Place and the privately-operated spa planned to open on the same lands.
“Ontarians deserve to know: who’s benefitting from this? It’s not the residents of Flemingdon Park, who I’m sure didn’t appreciate hearing the Premier refer to the location as ‘terrible’ at his press conference today,” Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner said in a statement.
“This Premier is pushing ahead with a controversial project that nobody wants for his own political gain—and we’re not buying it.”
But Ford has pressed ahead, saying the changes will revolutionize the waterfront and create an attraction even his doubters will fall in love with.
“I want to thank them — honestly, I want to thank them for their passion,” he said, telling the science centre to ensure members and campaigners were first to see the new site. “I actually think the world of them. We need more people like those folks.”
New renderings released Thursday as part of the announcement show the “reimagined” Ontario Science Centre at its new home, where it will sit alongside renovated and enhanced pods at Ontario Place, which will feature science-themed programming.
The contract is between Ontario Science Partners and the province to build, finance and maintain the new building for $1.04 billion. Premier Doug Ford said he believed that would be the total cost of the project.
“I believe it’s a billion dollars,” he confirmed.
Paul Kortenaar, the CEO of the science centre, said the new building would have “limitless” potential.
“Our future home will bring science to life in an inclusive and playful way, where visitors, including teachers and students, can experience the wonder of science,” he said in a statement.
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