The Ford government has revealed details of its 95-year lease with Therme Canada as part of its redevelopment of Ontario Place.
The controversial lease agreement for what is described as a European-style bathing centre on the western part of Ontario Place is for 75 years with a 20-year option to extend and the province has the right to terminate the lease after 10 years.
Under terms of the deal, Therme won’t be allowed to operate any other business on the Ontario Place site, such as a casino or shopping mall.
The lease requires a minimum of 1,800 parking spaces to be built while the Ford government has proposed 2,500 spaces to “meet demand for all users and tenants.” Of those spaces, 1,600 would be dedicated to Therme and shared with Live Nation.
The lease requires Therme to pay 100 per cent of property taxes to the City of Toronto as well as corporate taxes, sales taxes and any other fees due “like other companies.”
Further details of the new Ontario Place were revealed including a year-round modern music venue with a capacity of up to 20,000 in the summer – which almost 4,000 more than the current seating capacity at Budweiser Stage.
There is also the repurposed Ontario Science Centre, which includes the Pods and Cinesphere, new multi-use trails that connect directly to the Martin Goodman Trail and seamlessly connects with Trillium Park
According to the lease, the public will have “unrestricted access to the waterfront at all times” while within the leased area, Therme has committed $200 million to build 16 acres of new, publicly accessible parkland, which is double the current size of the existing Trillium Park.
Therme is also promising a new public beach, a first-of-its kind deep-water swimming pier, new community and Indigenous gathering spaces, an off-shore reef for aquatic habitat and a new public garden across from the West Island.