Toronto, What Are We Doing?
Gordistotle recaps the revitalization of Ontario Place and gives his opinions
This article is part of The G Spot, a weekly segment where criticista Gordistotle gives insight into the pop culture happenings of now through opinions or anecdotes on his life living in Toronto.
Photo by: Frank Castro
When I brought up what happened at Ontario Place earlier this week with a friend over coffee, she had no idea what I was talking about. So I’ve decided to take a break from my usual pop culture critiques and talk about something serious for once. Not that ‘BRAT’ isn’t important, of course.
Recently, the western Ontario Place island was stripped of its trees to accommodate its new tenant, “Therme”. The Austrian based “wellbeing” company has plans to privatize the former community space into a waterpark and spa. This drastic change marks the first phase of the Ford government’s plan to completely “revitalize” Ontario Place through a series of renovations. While it may seem like repurposing land that’s remained relatively untouched since its closure in 2012 is a good idea, it isn’t that simple. Ontario’s “Open for Business” ethos apparently means sacrificing thousands of trees that host local wildlife for the sake of profit.
While the Ontario Place consultants delivered a promising FAQ section on their website, I don’t think public opinion will sway to supporting the destruction of one of the largest public green spaces downtown. Just because the space is relatively underused doesn’t mean that it needs to be developed. Are a spa and waterpark what Toronto needs occupying its coveted waterfront land? Eyebrows have been raised at the questionable decision made by Ford. It’s not even that lucrative of a plan, so what’s his MO?
Therme is undergoing a 95-year long lease agreement with the Ontario government for its space, so the province is entering this deal for the long haul. One of the many shady parts of the lease is that it “only” costs Therme $5 million to pull out, but well over $30 million for the Ontario government. That’s just the initial cost too. No, I’m not kidding. If the government does decide to break the lease, the terms include finding Therme an alternate site within 18 months, paying all unrealized before-tax earnings, paying the demolition costs, and paying the costs to build a new equivalent site. This is all public information that you can read here. Just to let you know, it’s almost 300 pages long, but if you’re curious to see the terms and conditions of the lease (only after you finish reading this article of course). This means that even after Doug Ford (hopefully, please everyone vote wisely in the next election) gets booted, the province is still trapped into hosting Therme.
Another alarming issue is the finances behind the deal, with Therme estimated to bring in $2 billion… over the entire lease. Is that even worth it? That’s on average $21 million per year? There’s already hundreds of millions being poured into “revitalizing” the space (funded by the taxpayer, of course) just to prepare it for Therme. How is this a lucrative deal for Ontario? What’s worse is that 1200 parking spaces are required to be built in one of the most congested areas in the city, failure to do so resulting in fines paid to Therme. Are that many people really going to a spa and waterpark every single day for the next 95 years to warrant that many spaces? No, of course not. Ontario Place will (by then) have three ways to arrive by public transit; Lakeshore GO Train (Exhibition), the streetcar, and the planned Ontario Line (Exhibition Station). Therme expects most of the tourism to come from within the GTA, a population familiar with public transportation, so why require so many spaces?
To no one’s surprise, the deal has not at all been well-received by the public. Doug Ford’s comment sections have hundreds of replies questioning his leadership and pleas to leave Ontario Place alone. Look hard enough and you can probably find me there too. Who would have thought that selling beloved public green space to private industry (and it not even being a Canadian company) wouldn’t go over well with Toronto residents!?
While Therme’s renovation receives the bulk of the backlash (deservingly so), it's only Phase 1 of the plan to “revitalize Ontario Place”. The revitalization also includes a new home for the Science Center and a weatherproofing makeover for the Budweiser Stage for year-round use.
This isn’t the first time Ontario Place has hosted a waterpark. In 1984 the same section of Ontario Place was converted into an amusement park and later remade into a water park in 1992. Due to dwindling attendance, Ontario Place ultimately closed in 2012 and was later opened to everyone as public property. If Ontario Place was a drain on the treasury and costing the province too much money, why would the Ford government think that the same won’t happen this go-round? Therme’s park is a disaster waiting to happen, most likely upon arrival.
My main concern with this revitalization is “when does it stop?”. While the province still owns the land, which they very adamantly stressed when addressing concerns in the aforementioned FAQ section, it’s being leased to a private foreign company that would need to be paid millions to leave for the next 95 years. What happens if the whole thing tanks and Therme pulls out? What was once lush public greenspace will then host not one but two deserted amusement parks on the biggest Canadian city’s waterfront.
The privatization of what should have remained democratized access to our city’s beautiful lakefront is not a cute look Doug Ford. Toronto should instead be taking notes from fellow Great Lake city Chicago and utilize the waterfront for public use and engagement. The city hosts many great architects, let’s put them to better use than designing water parks, ok? If Toronto truly wants to become a world-class city, there's a certain thing called public amenities that we should probably have. If you pave all of the urban green spaces, who is going to provide resilience in the face of the climate crisis Doug Ford?
There’s no other way to put it, this was a shady business deal made by the Ford government, and I think there’s a precedent being set. We now know how little the public’s opinion is taken into account when up against boneheaded business moves that benefit nobody but those in power. What does this mean for the future of Toronto? Condos in Trinity Bellwoods? A mall in High Park? Hopefully not. But what’s happening to Ontario Place is just as egregious. As someone who calls Toronto home, I’m worried about the future of our city.