Exactly one year after plans were announced to revamp Toronto’s Ontario Place with a massive water park and indoor spa, among other attractions, the latest designs to be presented to city council in the fall are raising concerns equity and accessibility for downtown residents.
“It seems tone deaf what the people downtown want, and after all, it’s our neighborhood,” Duane Rollins said.
“This seems like another plan to take out space, living space that we’re already so short of asking for down here.”
The presentation, which details what the defunct marine park will look like, was released by the province last week. It is currently being evaluated by Waterfront Toronto’s Design Review Panel, which will weigh in with recommendations and make a decision early next year.
Under the plan, which is still in its design and approval phase, construction on the site will move from west to east, taking about 10 years to complete. The west island will house the water park with a retractable roof and a large indoor spa is expected to be built between 2024 and 2025.
An artist’s rendering provided by Therme of the Ontario Place landmark vision. (Submitted by Therme Group)
The reopened site is expected to boost the city’s economy and is expected to welcome five million visitors a year, as well as create 3,600 new jobs.
Rollins says the renovation will attract people from out of town, but it’s not what local residents are asking for.
“Whether I’m biking or running or walking down there, I really enjoy it. I have childhood memories of being down there … it’s a really beautiful piece of nature in the middle of the city.”
Last year, three companies were selected by the province for the redevelopment, including the Austrian company Therme, which specializes in water parks and spas, as well as the Quebec outdoor recreation company Écorécréo. The third company, Live Nation, already manages the existing music venues on the site.
The 155-acre waterfront attraction first opened in 1971, but closed in 2012 after years of declining attendance.
An illustration showing a bird’s eye view of the new Ontario site. (Infrastructure Ontario Brochure)
Seven areas are to be built or redesigned as part of the massive project: the recreation, wellness and water park attraction area, restored pods and Cinesphere, marina, year-round leisure complex, area outdoor adventure park, Trillium Park and programming and events area. .
In July 2021, the province said the site’s most iconic features and green spaces will be preserved. At the time, the province noted it would preserve many of Ontario Place’s “key heritage and leisure features,” including the Cinesphere, pod complex, marina, Trillium Park and the William G. Davis Trail.
“Therme was selected from an international competition and our plan will once again make Ontario Place a destination for all Ontarians. We are creating a new public park, bigger than Trillium Park, with areas where people can walk, running, biking and swimming,” a Therme Canada spokesperson said in an email to CBC Toronto.
“It will be a huge draw for families and people from across Ontario, and tourists to Toronto. And with our commitment to local arts and community programming, Ontario Place will be a showcase for Ontario with something for everyone to enjoy, just as it was when it opened more than 50 years ago.”
“Not for everyday Torontonians”
While assessments and public consultations are ongoing, city planner and mayoral candidate Gil Penalosa says the current designs present issues of equity and accessibility. He is pushing for the attraction to move.
“What the province is coming up with now is a completely isolated, all-out thing, just for rich people, not for everyday Torontonians,” Penalosa told CBC Toronto.
“That same park could be north of the freeway or in the parking lot of the fairgrounds. The promenade does not add or subtract anything to the province’s proposal.”
Promenade for the people. Urgent to STOP the privatization of Ontario Place in the west, AND the movie studio boxes in the east. Destructively anti-urban, anti-popular. Therme’s spa & Studios are welcome, NOT on the boardwalk. pic.twitter.com/SP0R6SU1bO
—@Penalosa_G
The development application will be presented to Toronto City Council in October, while the municipal elections are underway. It will then move on to the next council in autumn 2023.
“This is public land. That means it belongs to all of us, to all citizens. Therefore, we must do what is good for all citizens. And we urgently need more space, more green areas, more free zones” , added Penalosa. .
City planner and mayoral candidate Gil Penalosa, the founder of Canadian non-profit 8-80 Cities, says the current plans for Ontario Place “are not for everyday Torontonians.” (Kimberley Molina/CBC)
CBC Toronto reached out to Infrastructure Ontario but did not receive a response in time for publication.
Dan Nicholson, manager of community planning for the City of Toronto, said one of the key priorities for council is access to the waterfront, and he will engage in community feedback when the development application is before it. of the council
In addition to the Ontario Place redesign, Nicholson said all infrastructure also needs to be replaced at the site after further evaluations are done.
“Everything is aging. Everything needs to be replaced,” Nicholson said.
“It’s a very comprehensive redevelopment plan that will take quite some time to develop. We’ll probably have two to three years of infrastructure work on site once the plans are more advanced, before anything starts happening.”