Controversy over the redevelopment of Ontario Place continues.
This week, Premier Doug Ford proposed a controversial new option to ensure the 2,700 parking spots needed to support the three tenants of the redeveloped Ontario Place (Therme Canada, Live Nation, and the Ontario Science Centre) — an above-ground lot near the development.
The existing parking lot can host 700 vehicles, and last year, the Ministry of Infrastructure estimated that the province would need to spend $307 million to build an underground parking lot to accommodate another 2,000 vehicles to support the tenants.
Ford’s government proposed a multi-level underground parking structure with 2,100 spaces and a surface parking lot with 630 spaces, as detailed in a city status report from last year March. In November, as part of a new deal with the City of Toronto, the provincial government agreed to look at the option of relocating the parking garage to the nearby exhibition grounds.
But at a press conference on Monday, as first reported by the Toronto Star, Ford brought up the idea of an above-ground lot near the development when he was asked if he was rethinking the underground lot (given the recent massive flooding of Lake Shore Boulevard).
Ford told reporters that his government hasn’t confirmed the three underground parking levels because it costs so much to build underground.
“We’d like to build as much on top without prohibiting the view,” he noted. “Stay tuned on the parking lot. We’re working with the city as well — maybe we’ll put it on the other side.”
As expected, reaction to the news wasn’t too popular across social media.
“Here’s a simpler solution…say it with me: WE DON’T NEED A PARKING GARAGE AT ONTARIO PLACE!!! We also don’t need a private mega-spa on prime waterfront land. What is it that this Premier and government doesn’t understand???” One X user fumed.
“Ontario Science Center doesn’t belong in the downtown core. Flemington Park was a great place for it to be. There is no traffic to get there, really. Thought we were trying to be carbon neutra[l]” another stated.
I can’t stand the city. It’s become dirty, crime is up, and people are angry and mean.
Ontario Science Center doesn’t belong in the downtown core.
Flemington Park was a great place for it to be. There is no traffic to get there, really. Thought we were trying to be carbon neutra— Brigitte Belton (@gidget642) July 24, 2024
The provincial government is rebuilding Ontario Place, which was decommissioned in 2012, into what is intended to be a world-class, year-round destination that they say will include family-friendly entertainment, public and event spaces, parkland, and waterfront access.
Last spring, the Ford government faced more criticism after it was announced that the province committed to a 95-year lease with Therme Canada for a 65,000-square-metre, seven-storey indoor private “wellness facility” (spa) and water park on the Ontario Place grounds, to be built and operated by the Canadian branch of the Austrian-based Therme Group.
