Ontario Place has a new design proposal. This is what it could look like
The provincial government officially submitted its development application for the new Ontario Place and it includes about 12 acres of accessible public space as well as a “family-friendly” attraction.
In a statement, Minister of Infrastructure Kinga Surma called the application “an exciting milestone” while promising the changes will help bring “Ontario Place back to life.”
“Once complete, the redeveloped Ontario Place will be open to the public 365 days a year, with free public access and a waterfront experience that everyone can enjoy,” Surma said. “It will also create thousands of new jobs, and attract an estimated four to six million visitors each year.”
The Austrian resort developer Therme, who has been tapped to redevelop the western portion of the site, released further details of the proposal on Monday.
The design is being touted as being fully sustainable and accessible and includes 12 acres of freely accessible public space that will be available year round.
“We're delivering 12 acres of basically public realm which is contains, you know, beaches and gathering spaces, picnic areas, naturalized landscapes, all of those things, but fundamentally what we're creating is a place for people,” Jeff Craft, the public realm design lead from Studio TLA, told CTV News Toronto.
A rendering shows what Ontario Place could look under a new proposal submitted in November 2022. (Therme Canada)
The proposal includes a new promenade that will connect with Toronto’s Martin Goodman Trail, a pebble beach with an accessible waterfront for swimming access, and “enhanced” large gathering spaces that can be used for small concerts or art shows.
The public space will surround a building that will be designed to LEED Platinum environmental standard and will act as a “family-friendly attraction” with a wave pool, waterslides and restaurants.
“On a January day in the City of Toronto, when it's snowing sideways, and you think about the ability for a nurse coming off of a night shift, to have the opportunity for a couple of hours to go and sit and relax by the pool without having to pay for a trip to Mexico, that's pretty wonderful,” Mark Lawson of Therme Canada said.
“If you want to bike up down from Parkdale, if you want to drive in from Mississauga, if you happen to fly in from Chicago, you know, we think this is going to be something that fundamentally reconnects the city with its waterfront.”
The proposal also includes the creation of a wetland, which Therme says will clean run-off rain water so that clean water is returned to Lake Ontario. Officials will be able to walk through the wetland using a series of boardwalks.
A rendering shows what Ontario Place could look under a new proposal submitted in November 2022. (Therme Canada)
The submission comes after four weeks of public consultations, during which time both Craft and Lawson said an “enthusiasm for public space” was heard.
The original proposal for Ontario Place included just eight acres of public space. Lawson said that through the public consultations, “the building got a little bit smaller and the park got bigger.”
The application, while not yet publicly available, is still facing criticism from community group “Ontario Place for All,” who claims the application would take the West Island “out of public hands and turn [it] into a private spa for the rich.”
“This is not the vision Ontarians have for Ontario’s most iconic urban park,” Co-Chair Cynthia Wilkey said in a statement. “City Council must turn down this development application and insist the province produce a plan that better serves the people of Ontario.”
Craft said the goal of the design is to make Ontario Place accessible and build “meaningful places and things that both have function, beauty and create interest.” This includes restoring the shoreline of the waterfront to protect the area from flooding, erosion and high water levels.
The cost earmarked for both the facility and public space is about $350 million “plus”, Lawson said.
The province has not confirmed the cost of the project.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
An Ontario senior thought he called Geek Squad for help with his printer. Instead, he got scammed out of $25,000
An Ontario senior’s attempt to get technical help online led him into a spoofing scam where he lost $25,000. Now, he’s sharing his story to warn others.
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.