Community members, advocates and politicians held a rally Sunday to protest the Ford government’s decision to abruptly close the Ontario Science Centre.
The event, organized by advocacy group Save Our Science Centre, took place at West Hills Park in the Toronto’s St. Clair West neighbourhood.
“The Government of Ontario plans to demolish the iconic, award-winning OSC to replace it with a 50 per cent smaller building, located on top of a parking garage at Ontario Place. This plan is not only unnecessary, it’s expensive too,” reads a public letter to Ontario Premier Doug Ford on the group’s website that’s been signed by more than 30,000 people.
Infrastructure Minister Kinga Surma announced Friday the government was closing the centre in Toronto’s Don Mills neighbourhood that day, citing safety concerns with the building’s roof contained in an engineering report commissioned by the province. Ministry officials said a type of lightweight concrete, popular in the 1960s when the building was constructed, has now proven problematic and requires costly repairs.
Workers began erecting fencing around the Science Centre on Friday, blocking access to the building and its parking lots, with the site being patrolled by private security guards.
The abrupt closure comes after the government’s controversial announcement in 2023 that the popular landmark and attraction would be moved to the Ontario Place site — a move it says will save costs — but the new building won’t open up until 2028.
“We were always worried that [Ford] might do this. This is earlier than we expected,” Jason Ash, co-chair of Save Ontario’s Science Centre, told CBC Toronto Saturday.
The province is shutting down the Ontario Science Centre immediately due to the risk that the 55-year-old building’s roof could collapse. As CBC’s Lorenda Reddekopp reports, the emergency closure comes after the Ford government’s controversial announcement to move the centre to Ontario Place.
The report from engineering firm Rimkus Consulting Group found structural issues with the roof panels, some of which require fixing by Oct. 31,1 2024 to avoid a potential collapse under a significant buildup of snow, but it stopped short of recommending a closure of the building.
While the report pointed out those issues could be fixed at a cost, the province is choosing to shutter the location indefinitely.
Ash said he believes the government is misrepresenting what’s in the report to convince the public the building isn’t safe so that it can justify the decision to move it.
“If you read the actual consultant’s report, they say that one panel is critical and needs to be replaced,” he said.
Community outraged
The decision to close the centre, which was designed by prominent architect Raymond Moriyama to commemorate Canada’s centennial anniversary and opened to the public in 1969, has prompted outrage among community members.
Sameer Sayed and his three school-aged children, who live across the street from the centre, said his family visits three to four times a month.
“It’s really disappointing that the peak time, the boom time for the kids and the parents to come during summer vacation, has been snatched away and stolen away from the kids,” Sayed said in an interview outside the centre on Saturday.
Elsa Lam, editor of Canadian Architect magazine, said her six-year-old son was upset when she told him the news that the centre was being shut down. She said she agreed that the government was using the report to justify the government’s Ontario Place redevelopment plan.
“The report doesn’t say anything about having to close the Science Centre immediately,” Lam said. “This is all about what they’re doing on Ontario Place. They want to close the Science Centre and move it to a facility that’s half the size.”
Lack of government funding key cause of building’s deterioration: AG
A business case released last year by the government found that the current building is facing $369 million in deferred and critical maintenance needs over the next 20 years. A building condition report found “multiple critical deficiencies” in roof, wall, mechanical, electrical and elevator systems, interior finishes, site features, and fire and life safety equipment.
A lack of government funding is a key cause of that, Ontario’s auditor general said in a report last year.
There have been 42 projects deemed “critical” since 2017 that haven’t been repaired, and of those projects, the science centre had asked for funding for seven of them at least three times in the past five years but was denied each time, the auditor wrote.
Infrastructure Ontario ordered the science centre in June 2022 to close a pedestrian bridge connecting the main entrance to the exhibition halls after the bridge was deemed unsafe.
Mechanical issues have also continued to worsen, said Michael Lindsay, CEO of Infrastructure Ontario on Friday. There was a critical boiler failure, so there is no heat for the auditorium and great hall. The air conditioning is also at risk of failure, he said.
“Regrettably, the roofing panels of the Ontario Science Centre are not the only end-of-life system that we have to contend with here,” he said.
The business case said that moving the science centre instead of renovating the existing facility could save the government about $250 million over 50 years. A considerable amount of those savings come from the new planned facility coming in at about half the size of the current one, though officials say there will be more exhibit space.
Summer camps had been set to start at the science centre in a little over two weeks and the government said it has identified a nearby school that can be used as an alternative location, but all participants will get full refunds. Science centre members will also be reimbursed.
Infrastructure Ontario is issuing a request for proposals on Monday to try to find a temporary science centre location until the new one at Ontario Place opens. The science centre is also looking at providing mobile, virtual and pop-up offerings.