Company behind Ontario Place spa ‘working furiously’ to address criticism

As a chorus of questions about a mega spa at Ontario Place rise to a crescendo, the company behind the plan says it is now “working furiously” to overhaul parts of the project to appease the City of Toronto.

Austria-based Therme Group has faced waves of controversy over its proposal to build a $350-million water park and spa on the Ontario Place west island — and now faces the threat of Toronto city councillors rejecting the entire project if they’re not satisfied with the final design.

In an interview with Global News, Therme representatives admitted that residents and planning officials had raised serious concerns about their plans, but promised that the issues would be addressed.

“The architects are working furiously behind the scenes, but I think you’ll hear more from us on that,” Simon Bredin, a spokesperson for Therme, told Global News.

Time, however, is quickly running out because city council is expecting an updated proposal in June, and some councillors say the company has a lot more work to do before wining over city officials.

In late November, Therme submitted its plans to the City of Toronto to build a large glass building across Ontario Place’s west island. After several months of review, city planning staff flagged problems with large parts of the plan.

In a staff report published at the end of March, city officials said the building’s height and design “overwhelms the public realm,” and chastised the proposal for its issues with “location, height and massing.”

Coun. Ausma Malik, the local municipal representative for Ontario Place, said she has been unimpressed by Therme’s proposal so far, and called for massive changes.

“I am very interested to see what the resubmission looks like,” she said, referring to the new design and plan Therme will send to the city in June.

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“But right now, as it stands, if it’s just tweaks, it looks like it doesn’t have a place on our waterfront — and doesn’t belong there.”

Local opposition to the private mega-spa and waterpark comes as new questions are raised around the project.

On Monday, Global News revealed that Therme had entered a 95-year lease with the Ford government related to the privately owned and operated spa. A long-term lease, the company argues, is necessary to recoup its $350 million spend on the building and $100 million to revitalize public space.

Beyond the length of the lease — and the fact the Ford government will be spending public money to build a massive underground parking lot by the facility — few details of the lease have been made public.

An attempt to access the lease by local advocacy group Ontario Place for All was denied under freedom of information laws.

But it is not the local groups or the Ontario government Therme needs approval from to build its spa. Councillors at city hall have the power to approve — or reject — the application, depending on if the Austrian company meets their demands.

“Torontonians are watching us closely to make sure we are actually making decisions that are going to be in the city’s best interests,” Malik said. “And that is where myself and my colleagues (are aligned).”

In the March report, Toronto staff also said that Therme’s design failed to properly integrate the public and private spaces or blend itself with the existing heritage buildings at Ontario Place.

Therme has said it is willing to make the changes Toronto demands; the company said it feels it has already proved its flexibility.

Bredin used the example of concerns about how a bridge to the new facility blocked the view from the shore to show the company’s flexibility. He said Therme’s architects “completely redesigned” the bridge after complaints into a smaller glass model to address those concerns.

“Those are the kinds of little changes that we can make,” Bredin said. “We hear that people want access to the waterfront, so we’re trying to find the best way to facilitate that.”

While it is up to city council to approve Therme’s request, the Ford government also has the power to wade in and take control of the process by issuing a minister’s zoning order. That would replace the local planning decision with an edict from Queen’s Park.

None of the parties involved in the tense negotiations would say if the province would step in and take the decision away from Toronto.

Malik said she had been told Ontario would cooperate with the city’s local planning process, while a spokesperson for the housing minister referred Global News to comments made by Premier Doug Ford on Tuesday.

“It’s all about working together, not working against each other,” Ford said, answering a question asking how far he would go to push the spa plan through.

“And I know there may be a few down at City Hall (who opposite it) but I think the majority of people, including the acting mayor, (are) going to work collaboratively with us.”

4:10 Ford says ‘no public money’ in deal with Therme, acknowledges parking garage could cost taxpayers