Relocating the Ontario Science Centre to Ontario Place would save taxpayers more than $250 million over 50 years compared to repairing and updating the facility at its current North York location, according to a newly released report.
The cost to restore the current structure and update exhibits would be $1.3 billion over 50 years, a business case released Nov. 29 by Infrastructure Ontario concludes.
The report advocates for moving the attraction to a revamped Ontario Place on Toronto’s waterfront instead. The change, which would cost $1.05 billion over 50 years, would allow the government to “simultaneously revitalize two provincial assets through one capital investment,” the report said.
The report, which was presented to the province in March but has only just been released publicly, says part of the savings would come from the new Science Centre at Ontario Place being roughly half the size of the current facility.
The new facility, which will be located in a pavillion at Ontario Place, may be smaller but its layout will be better, allowing for more space and better exhibits, the report adds.
“In addition to providing significant taxpayer savings, 40 percent of the new Ontario Science Centre will be programmable space, compared to approximately 25 per cent at the current site,” said Infrastructure Minister Kinga Surma in a news release.
The Science Centre, which was built in 1969, has had a notable decline in attendance for some years due to the “lack of long-term investment in visitor experience” and not enough capital investment in the building’s overall upkeep, the report notes.
The report states that “preliminary discussions with the City of Toronto have confirmed support” for the relocation.
Criticism of Report
While Premier Doug Ford and his government are on board with relocating the Science Centre, some politicians are not convinced the report’s projected cost savings are accurate.NDP Leader Marit Stiles said the business case is based on “shaky 50-year guesstimates with massive margins of error.”
“Keep the Science Centre where it is, where it provides good, unionized jobs and is a gem in its community,” she said in a social media post. “And let’s let it live up to its fullest potential again.”
Liberal MPP for Don Valley East Adil Shamji also found fault with the figures listed in the report.
“Their math only works because the Science Centre will be slashed in half,” he said in a statement on X.
He added that the province’s plan doesn’t consider the perspective of Ontarians, referencing a petition signed by 35,000 people who want to be consulted “about the fate” of the Science Centre.
Mr. Ford announced in April the Ontario Science Centre would move to the waterfront with construction slated to begin in 2025. The new facility, according to a Science Centre press release, is expected to open in 2028.
Mr. Ford unveiled additional plans in July for redeveloping Ontario Place to include not only the Science Centre but an expanded amphitheatre, a public beach, bars, restaurants, a new marina, and a spa.
“It will be a state of the art, world class, Science Centre,” Mr. Ford told a news conference at Ontario Place in July.
Mr. Ford has also said housing might be a good option for repurposing the land at the centre’s current site, at Don Mills and Eglinton.
“There’s a lot of high-rises, density around that whole area,” he said in April. “I think there’s a tremendous opportunity to create some attainable homes and affordable, non-profit homes in that region if we decide to go down that route.”
Tara MacIssac and The Canadian Press contributed to this report.
