Reasons for Ontario Science Centre relocation versus renovation still not fully clear

It’s been days since the Ford government confirmed plans to move the Ontario Science Centre to Ontario Place in downtown Toronto from its current location in North York, but the exact reasons for choosing to create a new facility versus conducting a renovation aren’t entirely clear.

During a news conference at Ontario Place on Tuesday, Premier Doug Ford talked about the current state of the Ontario Science Centre.

“All of us grew up going to the Science Centre at one time or another. It’s tired, it’s tired, and the team over at the Ontario Science Centre is doing an incredible job. I’m sure they’re going to be so excited to put more exhibits in there,” he said.

“To be very fair to the people that work their backs off at the Ontario Science Centre for decades, they want something new, they want something sparkling and have an opportunity to be able to walk into a beautiful facility rather than a run-down, old building. It’s not their fault — they’re doing everything they can with a run-down, old building.”

Ford went on to describe the new, planned Ontario Science Centre facility as “state-of-the-art” and “world-class.”

During a recent visit to the centre, CityNews went through the public-facing parts of the complex to try to get a better sense of its current state. The most noticeable closure was the two-level bridge connecting the main, front building with the other structures further west.

“No access beyond this point. [The] bridge is closed until further notice,” several signs on a set of doors said.

Aside from the bridge closure, an escalator outside the Omnimax theatre was out of service during the visit. However, throughout the complex, many of its escalators and elevators appeared to be operational and exhibit halls were open to visitors without noticeable signs of decay.

RELATED: Ontario Science Centre to move to Ontario Place, provincial government confirms

Architect Raymond Moriyama began designing the Ontario Science Centre in 1964 and it opened to the public in 1969. Much of the facade and various other finishes are representative of the period it opened. The Omnimax theatre opened in 1996. According to the centre’s staff, it’s estimated 54 million people have visited to date.

CityNews contacted the offices of Ontario’s Ministers of Infrastructure (the ministry overseeing the redevelopment of Ontario Place), and Tourism, Culture and Sport (the ministry with oversight responsibility for the science centre) to ask about the nature of the bridge closure, the specific reasons that came up in the process before the announcement and what the government has deemed as the major limitations with the current facility.

In a statement from Infrastructure Minister Kinga Surma’s office, a spokesperson said “a number of maintenance and repair projects” are underway at the current location. However, the statement didn’t address many of the original questions. They also said the new facility will have more usable space.

“The current Ontario Science Centre uses 100,000 square feet, which is roughly only 20 per cent of the building. The planned new facility at Ontario Place, including its extension into the Cinesphere and pods, will be 275,700 square feet,” the statement said.

Meanwhile, Liberal MPP Adil Shamji, who represents the riding of Don Valley East where the centre is located, tried to make the case to keep the institution at its current facility off of Don Mills Road and south of Eglinton Avenue East since it is central in Toronto and would be at the end of the planned Ontario Line subway.

“Visits [are] only going to go up. So I understand that it needs renovation, so does Queen’s Park, so do many other facilities across the city,” he told reporters on Wednesday.

“There is a business model there, there is a revenue-generation model there, not just to make sure we can pay for those renovations, but so that there can be a return on investment that is greater than the dollars in the pocket.

“Is it an older building? Of course, it is, but as I said so is Casa Loma, and so is the Royal Ontario Museum. We can’t tear everything down that needs a little bit of work. We have reasonable expectations, very good expectations, for the number of visits to go up, for the number of tickets sold to go up, for the revenue to increase that can offset the costs of any requirements for maintenance.”

With files from Mike Visser