Ford government looking at much smaller interim home for Ontario Science Centre

Ontario’s Science Centre’s temporary home will likely be much smaller.

The Ford government is looking for an interim home after the current site at Don Mills Road and Eglinton Avenue East in North York was abruptly closed last week. 

Infrastructure Ontario just posted a “Request for Proposal” for interested parties to bid on. The Ford government wants to “expeditiously source an interim site of approximately 50,000 — 100,000 square feet of retail/commercial space” for the temporary site. 

At the now-closed Ontario Science Centre site, there were 142,000 square feet of exhibit space, so the total interim space the provincial government is looking for would represent a significantly smaller footprint for the science centre.

“We’ve gone from a full size, fully immersive and interactive science experience too, so micro arcade at probably at the mall,” says Floyd Ruskin, the co-chair of Save Ontario’s Science Centre.

It’s unclear what the cost to taxpayers would be of renting and setting up the new space. The Ford government is planning a permanent new home for the science centre in Ontario Place, but that’s not expected to open until at least 2028.

Opponents of the science centre relocation were already critical of the fact that the new building at Ontario Place is set to be half the original’s size.

As for the location of the interim site, Infrastructure Ontario says it’s looking for “retail/commercial space in a dynamic area of Toronto or surrounding areas.”

There are indications that the Ford government is looking to move fast with the move, saying, “We are also allowing for a degree of flexibility in the specifications for the RFP if it enables the science centre to open more quickly.”

Bids for the Ontario Science Centre’s interim home will be accepted until July 23, 2024.

With files from The Canadian Press