"The Ontario Science Centre is our education, our healthcare, it’s our infrastructure, which under this premier is being allowed to crumble"
- Don Valley East Liberal MPP Adil Shamjii, who represents the area where the centre located.
On Friday, June 21 the province of Ontario announced that it was closing the Ontario Science Centre immediately. The beloved Toronto landmark shut its doors permanently, with little notice, after an engineering report found that the building's roof was in danger of collapsing this winter. The Ford government plans to eventually build a new science centre at Ontario Place. It claims that all the repairs and renovation needed at the current site would be too expensive. The Ministry of Infrastructure says that fixing the roof will cost between $22 million and $40 million, and that the centre would need need to be closed for up to two years.
The new Ontario Science Centre is set to open in 2028. According to Lindsay Michael Robertson, the assistant deputy minister with the Ministry of Infrastructure, there will be no "immediate" job losses for current science centre staff. The operative word, of course, is "immediate." Furthermore, if you believe that the new science centre will be built on time and on budget, you may as well buy some swampland in Florida. It will probably end up costing more to build than to upgrade the current structure.
The picture that the Ford government is painting seems so cut and dried. The building is old and out of date. It is a safety hazard that is too costly to fix. The Progressive Conservatives will protect people from injury. Just wait a minute, though. There are other factors involved, other questions that remain unanswered. Let's backtrack a bit. In April of 2023, Premier Doug Ford announced his intention to move the Ontario Science Centre and combine it with his government's controversial plan to overhaul Ontario Place. The centre in Don Mills will be replaced with housing.
The decision to move the Ontario Science Centre from its current site has upset people from its Thorncliffe Park and Flemington Park neighbourhoods, communities with a high population of children and little recreational space.
Josh Matlow, a Toronto city councillor Ward 12 (Toronto-St. Pauls's) has been vocal about his opposition to the Ontario government's plan to relocate the Ontario Science Centre. He is concerned about the impact the move will have on nearby communities. Yesterday, a rally was held at Wells Hill Park in Toronto. Community members gathered to push for saving the Ontario Science Centre.
At the rally, Matlow said, "I'm upset as a Torontonian , I'm upset as kid who my parents took me to the Science Centre over and over again." "Leave the Science Centre where it belongs in community, in Flemington Park, in Thorncliffe Park," declared Toronto-St. Paul's MPP Jill Andrew.
Floyd Ruskin,, of the advocacy group Save Ontario's Science Centre, stated that the engineering report isn't completely accurate. "We've gone through the engineering report, and only one of those panels that they say is unsafe is in the critical stage," he said. "Eighty-four per cent of those panels are at low risk."
"Nobody is asking tor this closure. If we were to actually prioritize the things that kids and people care about, we would reopen it absolutely," proclaimed Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles. Ontario Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie didn't mince words either. She said, "It's shocking, it's an institution! They did it without consulting the community and frankly, it's just another symbol of neglect,"
I will also be blunt. The closure of the Ontario Science Centre is is heartbreaking. It's all about Ford's vison of Ontario, where developers reign supreme, and people come second to profit. I would like to know why the Ontario Science Centre was allowed to fall into such disrepair over the years. Why wasn't the money spent for renovations before now?
- Joanne
EDITOR'S UPDATE: On June 25, 2024, the firm of the late Raymond Moriama, the architect who designed the Ontario Science Centre, said closing the building is not necessary. In a bid to keep the Science Centre open, the firm offered its services free of charge to the provincial government for repairs.
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