The provincial government announced plans to move Ontario Science Centre, currently located in the Don Mills Rd. and Eglinton Ave. East area, to Toronto’s waterfront near Ontario Place.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
The Ontario government is facing calls to release the “business case” that justifies its plan to move the Ontario Science Centre to the Toronto waterfront as part of the Ontario Place redevelopment, as the total cost of the proposed revitalization plan remains unknown.
Opposition parties on Thursday pushed the province to release figures that the government says will show that moving the science centre from its current location in Toronto’s northeast to a new, yet-to-be-constructed building at Ontario Place would be cheaper than renovating the current facility.
Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles called on Infrastructure Minister Kinga Surma to release details of its business case, saying the government did not consult with local communities before announcing this week it would be moving the 52-year-old science centre from its current location.
“With this government’s very dubious track record when it comes to land deals, I think it’s on the minister to show her work,” Ms. Stiles told the Ontario legislature. “When will you show Ontario the evidence that this scheme is actually in the public interest?”
Responding in the legislature, Ms. Surma said the government presented a “holistic vision” for the 155-acre Ontario Place site this week. She also said the science centre is in need of costly repairs.
“What our government is doing is saving the science centre,” Ms. Surma said. “It is this government that is investing in the science centre, and investing in Ontario Place, to make it a wonderful place for families to enjoy for generations to come.”
Ms. Surma’s office did not respond to an interview request on Thursday. The minister told CBC’s Metro Morning on Wednesday that the province is “verifying the numbers” before releasing the business case to the public.
Laura Berkenblit, a spokesperson for the Ontario Science Centre, declined an interview request on Thursday with chief executive Paul Kortenaar.
The province is seeking six acres of City of Toronto-owned land and 10 acres of water at Ontario Place for the proposed redevelopment project. But councillors on the city’s general government committee deferred a decision Thursday to declare the property surplus.
Instead, the committee punted a vote on the matter until several steps are met, including the approval of the province’s Ontario Place redevelopment application by city council. The councillors have also asked for a copy of the lease with Therme Canada be received prior to declaring the land surplus, as well as to gauge the interest of the federal government in the Ontario Place lands.
City officials recommended the committee declare the property surplus Thursday in order to move forward with a land swap agreement negotiated by the two parties. The exchange would be for land of similar size and contain more property on the shoreline, city officials told the committee Thursday.
A city report says the provincial government is hoping to obtain the city property by the end of the year. Even if not approved by council, the report notes the province could move forward with expropriation to acquire the property and this could alter the particulars of the planned land exchange.
Meanwhile, in response to NDP questions, Progressive Conservative House Leader Paul Calandra said the government will be renaming a new transit stop on its signature Ontario Line that now ends at the Ontario Science Centre.
“The leader of the opposition’s main concern is that we might have to change the name of the brand new subway station that we’re building across the $30-billion infrastructure program,” Mr. Calandra said.
“I will give the leader the opposition a victory: We’ll change the name of the subway stop,” he said to cheers from the government benches.
Interim Liberal Leader John Fraser said he doesn’t trust Premier Doug Ford to develop on public lands, while Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner said the government’s decision to change the subway station name points to “another one of Doug Ford’s back of the napkin plans, which we’ve seen previously lead to blown out of control costs.”
The science centre currently sits in the Don Mills area of Toronto, bordered by the communities of Flemingdon Park and Thorncliffe Park.
Jason Ash, a local community advocate, said residents in the area were shocked at the government’s announcement, particularly Mr. Ford’s inference that the old science centre would be demolished for housing. He said many community members use the space for much-needed programming in the area.
“I think particularly people are angered with the notion that not only would it be proposed to be moved, that it would be proposed to be demolished, and that the provincial government would offer nothing to Flemingdon Park and Thorncliffe Park in return. So I think I think that rubs people the wrong way,” he said.
Earlier this week, the province revealed a master plan for the Ontario Place redevelopment that includes a previously announced $350-million spa and waterpark by Vienna-based Therme Group, a year-round concert venue, parkland and public beach areas. The province also plans to spend hundreds of millions of dollars preparing the site for development and building a new parking garage for 2,100 cars, although the government said it will eventually generate revenue for the province.
Ontario Place opened in 1971, and was home to an amusement park before the provincial government shuttered those parts of the grounds in 2012.
Laura Stone
Dustin Cook