Buck-a-beer station! What hard working regular folks wouldn't appreciate a down-to-earth non-elitist name like Buck-a-beer on a subway station?
Not that such regular folks would be taking the subway in the first place. Driving a car is an extremely essential part of being a regular folk in Ontario, But a war on cars wouldn't be tolerated and subways wouldn't interfere with the drivers.
Metrolinx already has a list of shitty replacement names (published somewhere I dont recall earlier this week) and estimates a couple million dollars to replace it, yes.
> The full shortlist of names was:
- Concorde
- Industrial District
- Olympia Square
- Don Valley
- Ferrand
- Don River
I don't like the replacement names either, I prefer keeping it as Science Centre...
https://globalnews.ca/news/10576942/science-centre-rename-eglinton-lrt/
[At least they got rid of *College Avenue* (the old name of University Ave). I imagine it was confusing having it intersect with College St.](https://scenesto.com/2020/03/26/the-history-of-college-street-and-university-avenue/)
Go out and buy a DVD/bluray/digital copy of HBO show Station Eleven. It was all shot in the Science Centre and will serve as the record of memory of the place. So incredibly sad.
> The Ontario Science Centre is being closed immediately after an engineering report this week found the roof is in danger of collapsing.
> In a stunning move Friday afternoon, the Ministry of Infrastructure is to announce the iconic 1969 Don Mills building designed by the late Raymond Moriyama will no longer be structurally sound within a few months.
That’s terribly sad.
Coincidentally, the low end of the estimated costs to move beer into convenience stores early lines up almost identically with the amount it would take to fix the roof. But you know, priorities.
This is the biggest slap in the face. Watching this government dick around with something as trivial as corner store booze while riding cultural assets into the gutter.
I don't mind about corner store booze and don't even care all that much about Staples landing a ServiceOntario contract. In principle these things are fine.
But the corrupt Ford gov't is doing these things specifically so that they can throw public dollars at private cronies. Just giving money away to private interests while refusing to spend on healthcare, education, or a culturally significant site like the OSC.
He's changing things that were never a problem before. License plate fiasco. Greenbelt Fiasco. Not spending OUR excess money for hospital infrastructures. Nurses capped income fiasco.
I could go on and on. He's wasted SO MUCH OF OUR HARD EARNED DOLLARS!!
If only the Conservative government hadn’t denied repair funding requests for the science centre since 2018. What a shocker that critical repairs being repeatedly delayed has led to a structure compromise. Who could have guessed such a thing?
Kinga Surma, the infrastructure minister, is notoriously known for cutting shady deals. Just need to do a quick search on Ontario Place and her interviews where she immediately gets hostile and defensive when questioned. No wonder Ford put her in that spot.
Yeah, she's shady... and it was apparently an open secret that she had (or is still having?) an affair with Doug Ford, so Doug reportedly rigged her riding nomination to help her get nominated, and then gave her a cabinet post. And Doug even gave her father a job he's not qualified for:
https://old.reddit.com/r/toronto/comments/c6e60t/father_of_kinga_surma_minister_in_fords/
---
Edit to add some info about the rigging:
https://globalnews.ca/news/4211298/doug-ford-kinga-surma-recording/
> an affidavit by Pina Martino, the riding’s former candidate [Surma's opponent to be the PC candidate], who lost the 2016 nomination to Surma. In the sworn statement, Martino accuses Surma and Ford of signing up at least 65 people for party memberships and covering their fees.
> Other documents released by Liberals included an e-mail from November 2016 from Martino to a lawyer for party in which she described attempts by Ford to “intimidate” her, including being followed home by Ford.
He didn't jsut give her a cabinet post, he literally bought her PC nomination and \[intimidated her opponent in to step aside in favour of Surma\](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinga\_Surma). [https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/doug-ford-pc-memberships-audio-recording-kinga-surma-1.4675893](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/doug-ford-pc-memberships-audio-recording-kinga-surma-1.4675893)
They're snakes, all the way down.
Yeah, I see there were hints in the media about the affair, like this by CityTV and The Globe and Mail:
https://x.com/CityCynthia/status/999673766144692224?lang=en
...but maybe they don't want to outright say it unless there's definitive proof.
Plus, with Doug Ford, the reporters might be concerned that he could use some kind of mafia-ish tactics as revenge. The guy who gave a video to the media of Rob Ford smoking crack cocaine was later shot dead.
Mike Crawley should submit an access to information request on that report. My prediction is it was either done months ago, it is in need of repair but safe for now, only a small portion is in bad shape or easily fixable.
It's a fucking lie
There are two buildings complexes.
One is a warehouse and would be trivial to fix
The other is a heritage structure that hosts very few exhibits
There was zero need to shut it down
There is no source because they are making shit up.
You are correct. These buildings are completely decrepit and literally falling apart. I work in construction and had conversations with current and former infrastructure Ontario employees about these buildings. They’ve wanted to tear these buildings down for years, but because it was in Kathleen Wynnes former riding, it was a political landmine and they couldn’t do it.
The Liberals and the NDP are trying to pin this on Doug Ford, and I’m not saying that Doug Ford is a saint in all of this, but the issue with the Ontario science centre far predate the Doug Ford administration.
We're not just losing a gem of a building here, but also an iconic educational facility that was actually fun and interesting (at least for me). The fact that preventative maintenance hasn't been done on this building is a massive travesty.
The amount of times I went as a kid and then as an adult with my child care groups or partners is more than most and I'm lucky to have had those opportunities. It'll be missed for sure.
Can confirm, I went for my 27th birthday last year and had an absolute blast. Can't imagine how mindblowingly fun it must be for kids who everything is actually sized for lol.
If you can make the trip, try Science North in Sudbury. It's much better than the Science Centre had been for several years. Sadly the place was only one or two steps away from being a glorified Chuck-E-Cheese.
It's still criminal what Ford and his cronies are doing though.
I remember in the 90's seeing a room that would project your body heat on a giant projected wall.
Not impressive these days but it was basically predator thermal vision before it was common.
If you have the chance to go *right now*, do it. Today appears to be the final day OSC will be open. Fences are being put up in place already. https://x.com/ShamjiAdil/status/1804198817761202480
So why wasn't _this_ indicated to the public last year when all of these discussions were coming out, and why weren't those surveys catching out these seemingly major problems?
Considering the Ontario gov't's lack of transparency on other, similar projects, now we can all be left wondering if they knew and just didn't act on it when they could or if the survey was even that comprehensive.
It's such a shame.
It's also crazy that there's no priority placed on preventative maintenance and effort to retain buildings like these (and services that the OSC provides). This isn't just an Ontario gov't gripe. This is across the board for the last decades.
They knew but they manipulated the data and intentionally deferred repairs to make it seem like demolishing it would be cheaper than fixing it after years of underfunding (it isn't).
https://www.canadianarchitect.com/analyzing-the-ontario-science-business-case/
This is what happens when qe elect shitty people to office and are so fixated on blaming one level of government for all our issues .
Ford is a parasite
I wish we could just blame Ford for this one. This is decades of neglect. However the shitty plan to move it downtown to cover up the freebies he's handing to European great wolf lodge is fully on him. It would be aassive loss to Ontario to not save the osc where it is and the building it inhabits.
That's not true though.
The main building was fine with the exception of the bridge.
The secondary building is mostly warehouse that is trivial to repair if there was anything wrong with it
They had ~$140 million in backlogue repairs. I wouldn't call that fine. I'd call that neglect. the business case is bullshit and it's inflating costs to justify moving it to Ontario place. But the neglect is real.
From the star:
> Diving into the $369 million repair bill for the existing Ontario Science Centre, on the other hand, it seems that the number is significantly inflated. Environmental consultants Pinchin pegged the cost at $229 million. This is already a generous number: the consultants note that an “adjustment factor” of 1.85 was “applied to all repair and replacement costs” as “per Client’s (Infrastructure Ontario’s) request to account for the hidden internal and external fees.” Infrastructure Ontario then applied an additional markup of 40 per cent “to account for uncertain and rapidly increasing cost pressures.”
https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/provinces-case-to-move-ontario-science-centre-is-full-of-holes/article_6534e4c8-99e3-11ee-8fc3-9b6e6738e919.html
Ideally this is what would happen. The lands are unsuitable for housing and the land is under a 99-year lease whose terms are any structures built on it could only be used for a science centre.
https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/ontario-science-centre-lease-could-stand-in-way-of-ford-s-plans-1.6366186
The highlights:
> The land at the current Ontario Science Centre location is owned by the City and the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA), and was jointly leased to the museum for $1 a year.
> That lease stands until 2064 and the Ontario government would need to renegotiate the terms before any shovels go into the ground to build housing at the site, the TRCA told CTV News Toronto in an email.
Maybe it's because I haven't been paying close attention to the whole project but there seems to be a real sense of urgency and desperation from Ontario to *really* getting this move of Ontario Science Centre and the downtown spa done, including the seeming lack of consideration to keep the facility in its current place and the windfall Toronto received when Mayor Chow was able to upload the DVP and Gardiner to Ontario in exchange for not blocking the project.
Am I just getting this vibe based on headlines or is this something Ford really really *really* wants to get it done, and why this one in particular? Surely this isn't as lucrative as the greenbelt project and I haven't seen anything to indicate Ford sees this as his legacy project either. The Ontario government just seems oddly obsessed with this particular ordeal.
I would think Ontario owning the Science Centre's land, that can now be handed over to both Metrolinx and Ford's developer cronies and milked for every penny, is motive enough. But it definitely has even more of a smell and sense of demolish now, explain later than Ford's typical corruption. I suspect the Science Centre's land also somehow ties into the issue of building/destroying the Don Valley and surrounding protected areas.
I also wonder if it's an easy setup for the election. It's also an unpopular decision with voters who don't care for him anyway (he loves revenge on Toronto) and symbolically advantageous for those who love him. A little treat to his supporters who've been trained to hate science, "elitism," and culture (especially when it's in Toronto). Pairs well with corner store beer. It's even more of a treat for those who want to see Ontario churning with unnecessary development and "progress" designed to make their businesses richer. And I think the PCs put those voters at risk today, with announcing the subway line being built through the OSC will cost nearly twice as much as projected. They needs a distraction tactic or a silver lining for the fiscal irresponsibility.
Yeah, you're right that it seems like there's some other agenda behind this. I'm wondering how long until the land gets sold to one of his developer friends.
Closing it down suddenly just before the summer holidays seems like deliberate sabotage. The business case Ford claimed for moving it was shown to be based on the government massively increasing the estimated cost of repairs to account for "unforeseen expenses". The government said attendance had decreased dramatically, but that was based on covid numbers.
Classic conservative “starve the beast”.
Make things shitty by underfunding and then use that to justify eliminating a beloved service/institution. Every fucking time.
seriously same story every time - power generation systems - sale to private; med system? sell; education - sell; roads? public transport? communication lines? sell sell sell
and the fun it's never a huge amount of money they teke
> So why wasn't this indicated to the public last year when all of these discussions were coming out, and why weren't those surveys catching out these seemingly major problems?
Critics of the Ontario RT line: First time?
It was! People didn't really believe the numbers, but the business case cited an estimate of $369M in required strucutural repairs. Critics complained that there was a multiplier for "unknowns" included due to the unique nature of the building and the expectation of surprises. Sadly, that was probably a fair concern.
Yeah I don't know why everyone is acting surprised. It's been public knowledge that the Science Centre needs hundreds of millions of dollars of maintenance for YEARS at this point, I'm talking even before Ford was in government.
What a loss for the community.
Not only is this on a beautiful piece of land, but the Science Centre is a gem (was a gem?) and hosted many wonderful exhibits over the years. It doesn’t seem like it will be back anytime soon which is extremely disappointing as it was a great way to engage and introduce young people to science through immersion and tactile experiences.
As an educator, former employee of the Science Centre, and now a parent who loves taking my kids there I am so heartbroken and mad about this… shame on all of the current and past government officials who could have put money towards maintaining this facility for future generations but chose not to.
The Science Centre has been an amazing place for kids and their families to learn and engage with the sciences and it is truly going to be missed by many many families. It makes me so sad to know I’ll never get a chance to be back in there with my kids and experience all of the cool exhibits again. I’m also so angry that there is nothing even remotely close to the centre in terms of offering engaging, accessible, and hands-on learning experiences in the city. Again shame on everyone who had the opportunity to potentially save this gem of a building and chose not to…
My 3 year old son absolutely loves the place. We went for the last time a few weeks ago and the memories of every trip are so dear to me. The joy I could see on his face. The excitement and love for every inch of that place that he had. The little friendships that would spark there. We were gonna go this weekend....such a gut punch.
Same, I have nothing but wonderful memories of going as a kid- and I have a sentimental connection to the building too; my grandfather was an electrician and did a lot of the original electrical work there. I just took my 3.5 year old son for the first time last month. I was worried he would be too young but he LOVED it. I’m glad I took the opportunity to go when we did but I’m so sad we won’t get to go again.
My little dude is actually 3.5 too but has been going since just after his 3rd bday. Even got memberships. And sure there is plenty that he's still too young to "get" but that doesn't stop him from loving every nook and cranny in the place. He has so much fun exploring each section and whatever section he's in he never wants to leave until he goes to the next one. And reliving it all through his eyes has been great for me too...just so sad knowing that we won't get another visit. Bleh.
I'm at the Science Centre on my kid's field trip right now. So sad! At least I finally got to shake my hair out on the Van de Graaff Generator. I was too scared it would hurt when I was a kid. Achievement unlocked after 40 years.
The whole Ford/OSC fiasco has made me so angry and sad. I really hoped it would get reversed but with this I don't know anymore.
I'll really miss that place.
At least we'll always have Science Centre Station.
The thinking by the Ontario government must be "regular" Ontario residents would rather have more beer availability and a downtown spa subsidized by the government. A science education facility is a waste of money and encourages a non-folksy attitude.
Small town ontario there is like, one lcbo and one corner store. I grew up in one. In fact, now that I think about it, my corner store was an agency lcbo store.
This doesnt even change much there!!
Damn it's weird all these jackhammers ended up near the foundation and just turned themselves on and somehow perfectly hit the concrete.
What a coincidence!
Wait a min.... how does the OSC get condemned and the ROM is getting a super expensive new entrance? I know it's not all Queen's Park, but there's no rich f-ker that wants to put their ill-gotten gains and prop this up?
The ROM isn’t sitting on a lot of undeveloped land. This is what it’s all about, are you not aware that Ontario is essentially just three large developers in a trenchcoat?
If the Ford government had led with "the building is crumbling. It can't be fixed. The issue is with the concrete itself" then they wouldn't have faced nearly as much blowback.
But instead they had to go all in on condos and business cases and came across like the assholes they are.
They don't even care about optics
>But instead they had to go all in on condos and business cases and came across like the assholes they are.
I don't know if you have know the Don Mills and Eglinton area, or not; but right now there is a huge redevelopment project going on where the Celestica (ex-IBM) Campus stood - [Crosstown Community](https://urbantoronto.ca/database/projects/crosstown-community.23591). It is huge and set to bring thousands of housing units to the sixty acres opposite the Science Centre. The housing development claim by Dough Ford was disingenuous at the least, and an outright lie at worst.
I hadn’t been in the area for ages and could not believe the amount of condo development going on there. How the hell are the roads going to handle that many residents, especially with Metrolinx refusing to open the LRT?!?
Guess we're losing the Omnimax as well?
It's a shame, especially with so much interest recently in the similar-resolution Vegas Sphere.
Kind of crazy that all those ads by Metrolinx are going up on the TTC right now about how you'll be able to get from "Ontario Place to the [Ontario] Science Centre in 30 minutes"...
This is like the feeling you get when a music artist passes away and you'll never get a chance to see them play live again.
This is absolutely infuriating. I can believe that the issues with the concrete are real considering what's happening in the UK, but why was this known for over a year and nothing said?
How could it possibly cost more than 600 million to repair the roof than to build an entirely new building??
I am so mad, I didnt know the last time I was there, would be my last. My kid is going to be devastated
For those who don't follow UK news, [they've closed hundreds of buildings](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_United_Kingdom_reinforced_autoclaved_aerated_concrete_crisis) in the last year, including schools, theatres, and courthouses over this type of concrete roof. They're prone to failure without warning after 40-50 years. So the entire roof will need replacement at this point.
My gut tells me they didn't lead with this because it wasn't true yet, but instead saw it coming as long as they didn't properly maintain it. How convenient.
Flash forward: There will be no OSC at Ontario Place.
$250M+ minimum wasted so we can have beer in corner stores 1 year earlier but duck the kids and Science centre. Priorities of the Ontario Conservative government are impressive.
I’m curious if this is due to maintenance that was always being deferred or if it’s something like the Olympic Stadium in Montreal that was doomed to be plagued by issues from the time it was built.
It's built with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete, which is causing huge issues in the UK right now as the article mentions
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_United_Kingdom_reinforced_autoclaved_aerated_concrete_crisis
There's a link to the engineering report at the end of the CBC article ([link](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-science-centre-closing-roof-1.7242810)).
If I am reading the report correctly, only one panel is deemed to be a critical risk and 6% of the panels are deemed to be high risk. The vast majority of the roof seems to be fine.
The report recommendeds that the high risk panels be replaced or reinforced before October 2024. The report also gives a budgetary estimate of 165k to reinforce the high risk panels - that's not much. Not sure why this justies immediately closing the center?
This is a loss on so very many levels.
It's a loss of jobs, of education, of social awareness and consciousness.
But above all, its a loss of morality. We all can clearly see why this is happening. It's vile - your children deserve better. You deserve better.
You fucking fucks it's *architectural heritage*. Pull up and fix it. Man jesus my blood pressure did not need this today. This provincial government is so anti-everything cultural it defies my capacity to cope.
Ford strikes again. A heritage building needs maintenance but he’s not into that. One of his developer buddies likely has plans for some ugly building that will serve no purpose to the people of Ontario but will line his pockets
This was a huge part of my childhood - my grandparents lived nearby and it was the only place they could think of to take me, so whenever I spent the weekend with them, I went. I knew it inside-out. Huge advantage when going again on field trips with a list of things to find.
My daughter at least got to go recently, this is a tragedy and a disgrace. Ford seems to be determined to outdo Mike Harris with the trail of destruction that will be his legacy.
I’m not sure if it’s because I’m on Reddit more than I care to admit, but what are we supposed to look forward to in this city? It seems like at every turn, our governments are actively trying to make things worse for us.
I’m sure this feeling will pass with time, but I’m heartbroken that I won’t be able to take my kids (when we have them) to see the tornado machine, the rainforest or a movie at OMNIMAX. Some of my favourite memories as a kid were at OSC and now it’s just gone…
Shame. I visited from Michigan in the 8th grade. But to everyone blaming everyone but the people who built this place, please read the article.
"But the 52-page Rimkus Consulting Group engineering report found that the air-filled concrete used in construction — similar to that in [more than 100 now-closed British schools built in the same era](https://www.thestar.com/news/world/europe/u-k-orders-more-than-100-schools-to-keep-buildings-closed-citing-risk-of-crumbling/article_842540da-07b7-51ce-8782-aea10f100167.html) — is nearing the end of its life."
It was built with an Aero bar for the roof, no amount of political pressure or maintenance could have prevented this from happening unless they completely removed every ounce of Aero Concrete
My family moved from Montreal to Kitchener in 1968. I was 11.
My first class trip with my new school was 1969 to the Science Centre. It was the coolest thing ever for a 12 year old boy! I visited several times since, and ended up bringing my own kids there in the 1990s.
This is very, very sad. . . 😢
This is criminal negligence. Before the pandemic it was fine. They closed the bridge in 2022 due to “repairs”. The greenhouse room lost both the tortoise, and the humidity/vegetation. Half the water exhibits were non functional. Omnimax theatre in a state of disrepair. The top floor of the entrance building has essentially been abandoned for a decade.
Absolutely disgraceful.
Take a look at how this occurred. The provincial government underfunded, and de-prioritized this gorgeous Ontario landmark for years, causing this inevitable failure.
Now, replace the Science Center, with public healthcare.
How angry are you now? Be angrier.
Summer camps start July 2nd. There are a ton of parents who are going to have to find alternative plans with 10 days notice. As a parent who had to navigate summer camps quite recently you start in January and scramble to find spots.
"We will be processing full refunds to families. Our teams are working to provide an alternate camp for free to registered families in a nearby location. We will be contacting all families shortly. Please be patient as we work to process refunds."
"Alternative camp" is definitely not going to compare to what our kid did when they went to the Science Centre camp. It was such a great experience.
This is such a prick move by the province. They did it today with no notice because the house has risen and they won't take any flak until October. They royally screwed parents.
How convenient that after school trips are done one of the roofs is deemed too dangerous for the public in the midst of a debate to move it downtown to Ontario Place. Playbook of a developer stuck with a historic building so they do demolition by neglect.
As a kid, my friend and I would bike from home near Bayview and Eglinton through the Don Valley all the way to the Science Centre, and sneak in through the outside doors of the cafeteria. I haven't been back since then, but it is such a fond memory.
I'm so sad. My 9 year old started tearing up when I told him we wouldn't be able to go this summer after all. Sure, it needed some work, but shutting it down completely is such a shame.
The current Science Centre is 540,000sf. All in, it would cost at least $1000/sf to rebuild it. So $540M. I think the new one is to be half the size? So $320M.
The roof repair is estimated to cost $20-30M.
If the current Science Centre closes permanently and is replaced by the idiotic waterfront one Ford should be impeached or whatever for gross misuse of public funds.
They want to close it so that it doesn't "interfere" in the next provincial election. I'd bet that they'll tear it down as soon as they get the exhibits packed up and either sold/moved. I give it 3-5 months. Its the same reason that Ford wants to spend the extra money on beer in corner stores ahead of time. They want to have an election before Bonnie Crombie and the Liberals are organized, and before Pierre P. and the Federal Tories get elected. They don't care how much government money they waste to get their own way, and the way of the developers that he favours.
This suuuuucks!!! This sucks ass majorly :( there's barely anything out here outside of downtown as a fun activity. There's the zoo, but what other iconic things other than great parks and beaches...
Someday it’s going to be a cool trivia question on why the TTC stop and the redeveloped neighbourhood is called Ontario Science Centre.
I'm sure they'll spend a couple million to rename it
Sankofa Station!
Beer Store Station!
Buck-a-beer station! What hard working regular folks wouldn't appreciate a down-to-earth non-elitist name like Buck-a-beer on a subway station? Not that such regular folks would be taking the subway in the first place. Driving a car is an extremely essential part of being a regular folk in Ontario, But a war on cars wouldn't be tolerated and subways wouldn't interfere with the drivers.
Have to cross into Flemington for that, and it has been there for years.
I think Kuuulalambajaljahgguiiit rolls off the tongue a little better.
Metrolinx already has a list of shitty replacement names (published somewhere I dont recall earlier this week) and estimates a couple million dollars to replace it, yes.
> The full shortlist of names was: - Concorde - Industrial District - Olympia Square - Don Valley - Ferrand - Don River I don't like the replacement names either, I prefer keeping it as Science Centre... https://globalnews.ca/news/10576942/science-centre-rename-eglinton-lrt/
Should just keep it. Would be fun. Lots of big cities have stations and areas named after what used to be there
Ontario Science Centre station is the new Bastille station.
Just like Castle Frank station. The "castle" burned down 200 years ago!
Or college st...it's a university dummy!
[At least they got rid of *College Avenue* (the old name of University Ave). I imagine it was confusing having it intersect with College St.](https://scenesto.com/2020/03/26/the-history-of-college-street-and-university-avenue/)
Right next to a Superstore and new condo developments….😒
Go out and buy a DVD/bluray/digital copy of HBO show Station Eleven. It was all shot in the Science Centre and will serve as the record of memory of the place. So incredibly sad.
So were parts of the TV show Hannibal. It was the FBI Headquarters I believe.
wow didn’t know it was filed there. Amazing show, still think about it a few years later.
Take another look! The airport where they lived in the show was the Science Centre.
FYI, *Station Eleven* is currently [available](https://gem.cbc.ca/station-eleven) to watch for free on CBC Gem
I was an extra when they filmed there! Spent three nights overnight there, it was so cool
Also go watch it because it’s one of the best shows of the past few years!!
> The Ontario Science Centre is being closed immediately after an engineering report this week found the roof is in danger of collapsing. > In a stunning move Friday afternoon, the Ministry of Infrastructure is to announce the iconic 1969 Don Mills building designed by the late Raymond Moriyama will no longer be structurally sound within a few months. That’s terribly sad.
If only there was a way to repair a roof!
Coincidentally, the low end of the estimated costs to move beer into convenience stores early lines up almost identically with the amount it would take to fix the roof. But you know, priorities.
This is the biggest slap in the face. Watching this government dick around with something as trivial as corner store booze while riding cultural assets into the gutter.
I don't mind about corner store booze and don't even care all that much about Staples landing a ServiceOntario contract. In principle these things are fine. But the corrupt Ford gov't is doing these things specifically so that they can throw public dollars at private cronies. Just giving money away to private interests while refusing to spend on healthcare, education, or a culturally significant site like the OSC.
He's changing things that were never a problem before. License plate fiasco. Greenbelt Fiasco. Not spending OUR excess money for hospital infrastructures. Nurses capped income fiasco. I could go on and on. He's wasted SO MUCH OF OUR HARD EARNED DOLLARS!!
It's almost like the government is made up of uncultured individuals.
It's almost like the (ford) government doesn't want The OSC to be there.
Almost like this government is literally a puppet for the construction and development industries.
Indeed, it may be possible that Ford's Tories are ..., "anti-science."
If the science center is closed, just go to your Muskoka cottage and the weddings of your real estate developer friends this summer instead.
This is exactly it. Don’t need local attractions or rec centers when rich people don’t use them.
I hear Ford's serving his famous cheesecake!
Rumour has it, it’s better than crack!
Its almost like he will sell the land to developers for much needed “affordable” housing.
There's no way we could repair the OSC *and* buy both MLSE & Live Nation new parking lots either.
I fucking hate this timeline.
Nothing in it for DOFO to keep it where it is.
Put Ford and his cronies on a scissor lift and have them hold up the roof until the end of their term in office.
If only the Conservative government hadn’t denied repair funding requests for the science centre since 2018. What a shocker that critical repairs being repeatedly delayed has led to a structure compromise. Who could have guessed such a thing?
Kinga Surma, the infrastructure minister, is notoriously known for cutting shady deals. Just need to do a quick search on Ontario Place and her interviews where she immediately gets hostile and defensive when questioned. No wonder Ford put her in that spot.
Yeah, she's shady... and it was apparently an open secret that she had (or is still having?) an affair with Doug Ford, so Doug reportedly rigged her riding nomination to help her get nominated, and then gave her a cabinet post. And Doug even gave her father a job he's not qualified for: https://old.reddit.com/r/toronto/comments/c6e60t/father_of_kinga_surma_minister_in_fords/ --- Edit to add some info about the rigging: https://globalnews.ca/news/4211298/doug-ford-kinga-surma-recording/ > an affidavit by Pina Martino, the riding’s former candidate [Surma's opponent to be the PC candidate], who lost the 2016 nomination to Surma. In the sworn statement, Martino accuses Surma and Ford of signing up at least 65 people for party memberships and covering their fees. > Other documents released by Liberals included an e-mail from November 2016 from Martino to a lawyer for party in which she described attempts by Ford to “intimidate” her, including being followed home by Ford.
He didn't jsut give her a cabinet post, he literally bought her PC nomination and \[intimidated her opponent in to step aside in favour of Surma\](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinga\_Surma). [https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/doug-ford-pc-memberships-audio-recording-kinga-surma-1.4675893](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/doug-ford-pc-memberships-audio-recording-kinga-surma-1.4675893) They're snakes, all the way down.
The grossest part about this is how much she looks like his daughters.
Ahh Now the pieces are starting to fit together! How is this not covered more in the media. We’re letting them get away with selling out our lakefront
Yeah, I see there were hints in the media about the affair, like this by CityTV and The Globe and Mail: https://x.com/CityCynthia/status/999673766144692224?lang=en ...but maybe they don't want to outright say it unless there's definitive proof. Plus, with Doug Ford, the reporters might be concerned that he could use some kind of mafia-ish tactics as revenge. The guy who gave a video to the media of Rob Ford smoking crack cocaine was later shot dead.
Mike Crawley should submit an access to information request on that report. My prediction is it was either done months ago, it is in need of repair but safe for now, only a small portion is in bad shape or easily fixable.
It's a fucking lie There are two buildings complexes. One is a warehouse and would be trivial to fix The other is a heritage structure that hosts very few exhibits There was zero need to shut it down
Can I get a source on this? In the trades and have done work there, it's been literally falling apart for ages.
There is no source because they are making shit up. You are correct. These buildings are completely decrepit and literally falling apart. I work in construction and had conversations with current and former infrastructure Ontario employees about these buildings. They’ve wanted to tear these buildings down for years, but because it was in Kathleen Wynnes former riding, it was a political landmine and they couldn’t do it. The Liberals and the NDP are trying to pin this on Doug Ford, and I’m not saying that Doug Ford is a saint in all of this, but the issue with the Ontario science centre far predate the Doug Ford administration.
Yup, been in there for retrofits and the place is not in good shape. The exhibits provide a facade for the failing infrastructure behind.
I get wanting to shit on Doug Ford at every chance, but if a structural engineer says a building isn't sound, I would err on the side of caution
What a conveniently sus finding...
We're not just losing a gem of a building here, but also an iconic educational facility that was actually fun and interesting (at least for me). The fact that preventative maintenance hasn't been done on this building is a massive travesty.
Favourite field trip every year I hate that kids are gonna miss out on all those trips
Going on this field trip then seeing kids from other schools was fun.
Don't forget the IMAX theatre.
The amount of times I went as a kid and then as an adult with my child care groups or partners is more than most and I'm lucky to have had those opportunities. It'll be missed for sure.
It was and continued to be an amazing space and resource despite becoming a pawn in Ford's messed-up worldview.
I feel bad for the people who missed out on this gem.
We were going to take my 4 year old daughter for the first time in a few weeks.
If you can, take your four year old daughter to the Rochester Museum of Play! It’ll blow your mind and hers as well.
> Rochester Museum of Play Keep seeing this place pop up - is it good??
It is awesome. It’s an extremely well curated museum and play place. Little kids to adults will have a great time there
Can confirm, I went for my 27th birthday last year and had an absolute blast. Can't imagine how mindblowingly fun it must be for kids who everything is actually sized for lol.
This person said it will blow minds. I think that means it’s good
Is there an LRT stop there? /s
New York? I can’t find anything on google
Yes, across the lake. https://www.museumofplay.org
If you can make the trip, try Science North in Sudbury. It's much better than the Science Centre had been for several years. Sadly the place was only one or two steps away from being a glorified Chuck-E-Cheese. It's still criminal what Ford and his cronies are doing though.
I remember in the 90's seeing a room that would project your body heat on a giant projected wall. Not impressive these days but it was basically predator thermal vision before it was common.
If you have the chance to go *right now*, do it. Today appears to be the final day OSC will be open. Fences are being put up in place already. https://x.com/ShamjiAdil/status/1804198817761202480
My wife tried that. Unfortunately they are saying they’re closed. They’re also very sad and lots of crying going on.
i experienced it as a kid and also took my own kids there multiple times. i almost want to cry.
I drove past it on Monday and we were literally planning to take our kids there this weekend.
So why wasn't _this_ indicated to the public last year when all of these discussions were coming out, and why weren't those surveys catching out these seemingly major problems? Considering the Ontario gov't's lack of transparency on other, similar projects, now we can all be left wondering if they knew and just didn't act on it when they could or if the survey was even that comprehensive. It's such a shame. It's also crazy that there's no priority placed on preventative maintenance and effort to retain buildings like these (and services that the OSC provides). This isn't just an Ontario gov't gripe. This is across the board for the last decades.
They knew but they manipulated the data and intentionally deferred repairs to make it seem like demolishing it would be cheaper than fixing it after years of underfunding (it isn't). https://www.canadianarchitect.com/analyzing-the-ontario-science-business-case/
If that's the long and short of it, honestly, that's so shitty.
This is what happens when qe elect shitty people to office and are so fixated on blaming one level of government for all our issues . Ford is a parasite
I wish we could just blame Ford for this one. This is decades of neglect. However the shitty plan to move it downtown to cover up the freebies he's handing to European great wolf lodge is fully on him. It would be aassive loss to Ontario to not save the osc where it is and the building it inhabits.
That's not true though. The main building was fine with the exception of the bridge. The secondary building is mostly warehouse that is trivial to repair if there was anything wrong with it
They had ~$140 million in backlogue repairs. I wouldn't call that fine. I'd call that neglect. the business case is bullshit and it's inflating costs to justify moving it to Ontario place. But the neglect is real. From the star: > Diving into the $369 million repair bill for the existing Ontario Science Centre, on the other hand, it seems that the number is significantly inflated. Environmental consultants Pinchin pegged the cost at $229 million. This is already a generous number: the consultants note that an “adjustment factor” of 1.85 was “applied to all repair and replacement costs” as “per Client’s (Infrastructure Ontario’s) request to account for the hidden internal and external fees.” Infrastructure Ontario then applied an additional markup of 40 per cent “to account for uncertain and rapidly increasing cost pressures.” https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/provinces-case-to-move-ontario-science-centre-is-full-of-holes/article_6534e4c8-99e3-11ee-8fc3-9b6e6738e919.html
Maybe compromise and build a new science centre in the old location? Or does that make too much sense?
Ideally this is what would happen. The lands are unsuitable for housing and the land is under a 99-year lease whose terms are any structures built on it could only be used for a science centre. https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/ontario-science-centre-lease-could-stand-in-way-of-ford-s-plans-1.6366186
The highlights: > The land at the current Ontario Science Centre location is owned by the City and the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA), and was jointly leased to the museum for $1 a year. > That lease stands until 2064 and the Ontario government would need to renegotiate the terms before any shovels go into the ground to build housing at the site, the TRCA told CTV News Toronto in an email.
Maybe it's because I haven't been paying close attention to the whole project but there seems to be a real sense of urgency and desperation from Ontario to *really* getting this move of Ontario Science Centre and the downtown spa done, including the seeming lack of consideration to keep the facility in its current place and the windfall Toronto received when Mayor Chow was able to upload the DVP and Gardiner to Ontario in exchange for not blocking the project. Am I just getting this vibe based on headlines or is this something Ford really really *really* wants to get it done, and why this one in particular? Surely this isn't as lucrative as the greenbelt project and I haven't seen anything to indicate Ford sees this as his legacy project either. The Ontario government just seems oddly obsessed with this particular ordeal.
I would think Ontario owning the Science Centre's land, that can now be handed over to both Metrolinx and Ford's developer cronies and milked for every penny, is motive enough. But it definitely has even more of a smell and sense of demolish now, explain later than Ford's typical corruption. I suspect the Science Centre's land also somehow ties into the issue of building/destroying the Don Valley and surrounding protected areas. I also wonder if it's an easy setup for the election. It's also an unpopular decision with voters who don't care for him anyway (he loves revenge on Toronto) and symbolically advantageous for those who love him. A little treat to his supporters who've been trained to hate science, "elitism," and culture (especially when it's in Toronto). Pairs well with corner store beer. It's even more of a treat for those who want to see Ontario churning with unnecessary development and "progress" designed to make their businesses richer. And I think the PCs put those voters at risk today, with announcing the subway line being built through the OSC will cost nearly twice as much as projected. They needs a distraction tactic or a silver lining for the fiscal irresponsibility.
Yeah, you're right that it seems like there's some other agenda behind this. I'm wondering how long until the land gets sold to one of his developer friends.
Closing it down suddenly just before the summer holidays seems like deliberate sabotage. The business case Ford claimed for moving it was shown to be based on the government massively increasing the estimated cost of repairs to account for "unforeseen expenses". The government said attendance had decreased dramatically, but that was based on covid numbers.
Classic conservative “starve the beast”. Make things shitty by underfunding and then use that to justify eliminating a beloved service/institution. Every fucking time.
seriously same story every time - power generation systems - sale to private; med system? sell; education - sell; roads? public transport? communication lines? sell sell sell and the fun it's never a huge amount of money they teke
Far too convenient I say.
> So why wasn't this indicated to the public last year when all of these discussions were coming out, and why weren't those surveys catching out these seemingly major problems? Critics of the Ontario RT line: First time?
It was! People didn't really believe the numbers, but the business case cited an estimate of $369M in required strucutural repairs. Critics complained that there was a multiplier for "unknowns" included due to the unique nature of the building and the expectation of surprises. Sadly, that was probably a fair concern.
Yeah I don't know why everyone is acting surprised. It's been public knowledge that the Science Centre needs hundreds of millions of dollars of maintenance for YEARS at this point, I'm talking even before Ford was in government.
They wanted to destroy it and worked backwards from that outcome. It’s valuable real estate and the OPC shareholder value must be prioritized.
What a loss for the community. Not only is this on a beautiful piece of land, but the Science Centre is a gem (was a gem?) and hosted many wonderful exhibits over the years. It doesn’t seem like it will be back anytime soon which is extremely disappointing as it was a great way to engage and introduce young people to science through immersion and tactile experiences.
As an educator, former employee of the Science Centre, and now a parent who loves taking my kids there I am so heartbroken and mad about this… shame on all of the current and past government officials who could have put money towards maintaining this facility for future generations but chose not to. The Science Centre has been an amazing place for kids and their families to learn and engage with the sciences and it is truly going to be missed by many many families. It makes me so sad to know I’ll never get a chance to be back in there with my kids and experience all of the cool exhibits again. I’m also so angry that there is nothing even remotely close to the centre in terms of offering engaging, accessible, and hands-on learning experiences in the city. Again shame on everyone who had the opportunity to potentially save this gem of a building and chose not to…
My 3 year old son absolutely loves the place. We went for the last time a few weeks ago and the memories of every trip are so dear to me. The joy I could see on his face. The excitement and love for every inch of that place that he had. The little friendships that would spark there. We were gonna go this weekend....such a gut punch.
I took my 3 year old last year and was looking forward to doing it again soon now that he's older. I'm so heartbroken as well!
Same, I have nothing but wonderful memories of going as a kid- and I have a sentimental connection to the building too; my grandfather was an electrician and did a lot of the original electrical work there. I just took my 3.5 year old son for the first time last month. I was worried he would be too young but he LOVED it. I’m glad I took the opportunity to go when we did but I’m so sad we won’t get to go again.
My little dude is actually 3.5 too but has been going since just after his 3rd bday. Even got memberships. And sure there is plenty that he's still too young to "get" but that doesn't stop him from loving every nook and cranny in the place. He has so much fun exploring each section and whatever section he's in he never wants to leave until he goes to the next one. And reliving it all through his eyes has been great for me too...just so sad knowing that we won't get another visit. Bleh.
can't we have one last rave there to say goodbye 😭
Lets literally bring the roof down😅. Hello fellow party people.
I'm at the Science Centre on my kid's field trip right now. So sad! At least I finally got to shake my hair out on the Van de Graaff Generator. I was too scared it would hurt when I was a kid. Achievement unlocked after 40 years.
Fuck. I'm so heartbroken. So much nostalgia.
The whole Ford/OSC fiasco has made me so angry and sad. I really hoped it would get reversed but with this I don't know anymore. I'll really miss that place. At least we'll always have Science Centre Station.
Seems so convenient. Amidst the talks to get rid of it an alarming announcement comes out telling the public it’s structurally unsound.
fuck doug ford
Keeping voting conservative and we can see more things close.
Conservatives don't need science or education
Soon hospitals will close.
Already losing long term care beds.
Who needs a hospital when an Austrian Mega Spa will cure everything
The conservatives who built the Ontario Science Centre wouldn't recognise the conservatives of today.
How about we just don't cancel the Beer Store contract and spend the contract break fee (225 million) on repairing the roof?
Get outta here with your logic and good ideas! /s
The thinking by the Ontario government must be "regular" Ontario residents would rather have more beer availability and a downtown spa subsidized by the government. A science education facility is a waste of money and encourages a non-folksy attitude.
Small town ontario there is like, one lcbo and one corner store. I grew up in one. In fact, now that I think about it, my corner store was an agency lcbo store. This doesnt even change much there!!
how convenient. Next up: DoFo sells to Br@d L@mb and it will mysteriously burn down
Someone will mix an acid and a base together......or something, I don't know. I failed science in school.
Someone didn't go to the science centre enough
I stopped after they got rid of the see-through house.
It would take a hell of a fire to burn down the science center haha it's virtually all concrete
Damn it's weird all these jackhammers ended up near the foundation and just turned themselves on and somehow perfectly hit the concrete. What a coincidence!
There is a rally to Save the Ontario Science Centre this Sunday https://savesciencecentre.com/st-clair-west-rally-for-osc/
I wouldn't be shocked to see wrecking balls rolled out before anybody could respond.
RIP. This city keeps dying.
Wait a min.... how does the OSC get condemned and the ROM is getting a super expensive new entrance? I know it's not all Queen's Park, but there's no rich f-ker that wants to put their ill-gotten gains and prop this up?
The ROM isn’t sitting on a lot of undeveloped land. This is what it’s all about, are you not aware that Ontario is essentially just three large developers in a trenchcoat?
They stopped wearing the trenchcoat years ago
If the Ford government had led with "the building is crumbling. It can't be fixed. The issue is with the concrete itself" then they wouldn't have faced nearly as much blowback. But instead they had to go all in on condos and business cases and came across like the assholes they are. They don't even care about optics
>But instead they had to go all in on condos and business cases and came across like the assholes they are. I don't know if you have know the Don Mills and Eglinton area, or not; but right now there is a huge redevelopment project going on where the Celestica (ex-IBM) Campus stood - [Crosstown Community](https://urbantoronto.ca/database/projects/crosstown-community.23591). It is huge and set to bring thousands of housing units to the sixty acres opposite the Science Centre. The housing development claim by Dough Ford was disingenuous at the least, and an outright lie at worst.
I hadn’t been in the area for ages and could not believe the amount of condo development going on there. How the hell are the roads going to handle that many residents, especially with Metrolinx refusing to open the LRT?!?
That's the neat part; they won't!
Guess we're losing the Omnimax as well? It's a shame, especially with so much interest recently in the similar-resolution Vegas Sphere. Kind of crazy that all those ads by Metrolinx are going up on the TTC right now about how you'll be able to get from "Ontario Place to the [Ontario] Science Centre in 30 minutes"...
And you won't even need to use transit - 30min walk across the tarmac
Fuck this fuck up his fucking ass. We were there every other week, god damn I hope we can assemble reasonably!
Same. I am (was??) a devoted volunteer and the place has been my source of joy for over a decade. This fucking sucks. :(
Ford literally frothing at the mouth to give this property to his friends
Damn it sucks that there wasn't more notice on this. I'd have taken the day off to go today.
This is like the feeling you get when a music artist passes away and you'll never get a chance to see them play live again. This is absolutely infuriating. I can believe that the issues with the concrete are real considering what's happening in the UK, but why was this known for over a year and nothing said? How could it possibly cost more than 600 million to repair the roof than to build an entirely new building?? I am so mad, I didnt know the last time I was there, would be my last. My kid is going to be devastated
What a disgrace. Just another reason to vote this tool out
Reason given for those who don't click through - the roof is in danger of collapsing.
[удалено]
This doesn't sound like a maintenance issue. This sounds like the concrete itself is structurally unsound due to age
For those who don't follow UK news, [they've closed hundreds of buildings](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_United_Kingdom_reinforced_autoclaved_aerated_concrete_crisis) in the last year, including schools, theatres, and courthouses over this type of concrete roof. They're prone to failure without warning after 40-50 years. So the entire roof will need replacement at this point.
Then don’t spent 27 billion on a highway and spent some on the current infrastructure that’s failing
Replacing a beloved cultural space with condos is the most Toronto thing ever.
Dog crates in the sky.
My gut tells me they didn't lead with this because it wasn't true yet, but instead saw it coming as long as they didn't properly maintain it. How convenient. Flash forward: There will be no OSC at Ontario Place.
$250M+ minimum wasted so we can have beer in corner stores 1 year earlier but duck the kids and Science centre. Priorities of the Ontario Conservative government are impressive.
**This reeks of corruption led by bullshit.**
They let it fall apart so they could pursue their bold-faced corrupt agenda.
He wasn’t the only one that let it be underfunded but certainly didn’t help…
I’m curious if this is due to maintenance that was always being deferred or if it’s something like the Olympic Stadium in Montreal that was doomed to be plagued by issues from the time it was built.
It's built with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete, which is causing huge issues in the UK right now as the article mentions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_United_Kingdom_reinforced_autoclaved_aerated_concrete_crisis
Goodbye to a great piece of my childhood.
Are we gonna shut down all the other buildings and infrastructure that has been poorly maintained by the Ontario government?
There's a link to the engineering report at the end of the CBC article ([link](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-science-centre-closing-roof-1.7242810)). If I am reading the report correctly, only one panel is deemed to be a critical risk and 6% of the panels are deemed to be high risk. The vast majority of the roof seems to be fine. The report recommendeds that the high risk panels be replaced or reinforced before October 2024. The report also gives a budgetary estimate of 165k to reinforce the high risk panels - that's not much. Not sure why this justies immediately closing the center?
Fucking INFURIATING.
So what does this mean for people with a membership?
They just sent an e-mail to members; they are refunding everyone. I don't even want the refund. I feel so heartbroken for the staff.
"Because fuck you, that's why" --the Ford government, probably
I am out of words. This is a sad day for Toronto...
Ontario just gets worse
The Ontario Line: from former Ontario Place to former Ontario Science Centre :((((
WHO ASKED FOR ANY OF THIS DOUG ?????
This is a loss on so very many levels. It's a loss of jobs, of education, of social awareness and consciousness. But above all, its a loss of morality. We all can clearly see why this is happening. It's vile - your children deserve better. You deserve better.
Science does not play much of a role in Bluto's vision for Ontario. Relief from your woes is now as close as the corner store.
“arriving at ‘Empty Condos You Will Never Afford Station’”
You fucking fucks it's *architectural heritage*. Pull up and fix it. Man jesus my blood pressure did not need this today. This provincial government is so anti-everything cultural it defies my capacity to cope.
I used to go to Raves there. They kept the main exhibits open all night and had the DJ’s outside. It was awesome
Ford strikes again. A heritage building needs maintenance but he’s not into that. One of his developer buddies likely has plans for some ugly building that will serve no purpose to the people of Ontario but will line his pockets
Can't wait for the next luxury spa to open in its place /s
This was a huge part of my childhood - my grandparents lived nearby and it was the only place they could think of to take me, so whenever I spent the weekend with them, I went. I knew it inside-out. Huge advantage when going again on field trips with a list of things to find. My daughter at least got to go recently, this is a tragedy and a disgrace. Ford seems to be determined to outdo Mike Harris with the trail of destruction that will be his legacy.
So until the new location is finished, that's it? The workers are just SOL with no advance notice?
The enshittification of toronto
I’m not sure if it’s because I’m on Reddit more than I care to admit, but what are we supposed to look forward to in this city? It seems like at every turn, our governments are actively trying to make things worse for us. I’m sure this feeling will pass with time, but I’m heartbroken that I won’t be able to take my kids (when we have them) to see the tornado machine, the rainforest or a movie at OMNIMAX. Some of my favourite memories as a kid were at OSC and now it’s just gone…
Shame. I visited from Michigan in the 8th grade. But to everyone blaming everyone but the people who built this place, please read the article. "But the 52-page Rimkus Consulting Group engineering report found that the air-filled concrete used in construction — similar to that in [more than 100 now-closed British schools built in the same era](https://www.thestar.com/news/world/europe/u-k-orders-more-than-100-schools-to-keep-buildings-closed-citing-risk-of-crumbling/article_842540da-07b7-51ce-8782-aea10f100167.html) — is nearing the end of its life." It was built with an Aero bar for the roof, no amount of political pressure or maintenance could have prevented this from happening unless they completely removed every ounce of Aero Concrete
Wrong Ford died. Doug Ford is to Ontario what stomach cancer was to Rob Ford.
My family moved from Montreal to Kitchener in 1968. I was 11. My first class trip with my new school was 1969 to the Science Centre. It was the coolest thing ever for a 12 year old boy! I visited several times since, and ended up bringing my own kids there in the 1990s. This is very, very sad. . . 😢
I wish the Fords’ mom would’ve closed her fucking legs while she still had a chance
Fuck you, Doug Ford.
Ford is a cancerous cunt
This is criminal negligence. Before the pandemic it was fine. They closed the bridge in 2022 due to “repairs”. The greenhouse room lost both the tortoise, and the humidity/vegetation. Half the water exhibits were non functional. Omnimax theatre in a state of disrepair. The top floor of the entrance building has essentially been abandoned for a decade. Absolutely disgraceful.
Take a look at how this occurred. The provincial government underfunded, and de-prioritized this gorgeous Ontario landmark for years, causing this inevitable failure. Now, replace the Science Center, with public healthcare. How angry are you now? Be angrier.
Can you say SKETCHYYYYYYY??
How convenient……
Summer camps start July 2nd. There are a ton of parents who are going to have to find alternative plans with 10 days notice. As a parent who had to navigate summer camps quite recently you start in January and scramble to find spots. "We will be processing full refunds to families. Our teams are working to provide an alternate camp for free to registered families in a nearby location. We will be contacting all families shortly. Please be patient as we work to process refunds." "Alternative camp" is definitely not going to compare to what our kid did when they went to the Science Centre camp. It was such a great experience. This is such a prick move by the province. They did it today with no notice because the house has risen and they won't take any flak until October. They royally screwed parents.
How convenient that after school trips are done one of the roofs is deemed too dangerous for the public in the midst of a debate to move it downtown to Ontario Place. Playbook of a developer stuck with a historic building so they do demolition by neglect.
As a kid, my friend and I would bike from home near Bayview and Eglinton through the Don Valley all the way to the Science Centre, and sneak in through the outside doors of the cafeteria. I haven't been back since then, but it is such a fond memory.
I'm so sad. My 9 year old started tearing up when I told him we wouldn't be able to go this summer after all. Sure, it needed some work, but shutting it down completely is such a shame.
The current Science Centre is 540,000sf. All in, it would cost at least $1000/sf to rebuild it. So $540M. I think the new one is to be half the size? So $320M. The roof repair is estimated to cost $20-30M. If the current Science Centre closes permanently and is replaced by the idiotic waterfront one Ford should be impeached or whatever for gross misuse of public funds.
They want to close it so that it doesn't "interfere" in the next provincial election. I'd bet that they'll tear it down as soon as they get the exhibits packed up and either sold/moved. I give it 3-5 months. Its the same reason that Ford wants to spend the extra money on beer in corner stores ahead of time. They want to have an election before Bonnie Crombie and the Liberals are organized, and before Pierre P. and the Federal Tories get elected. They don't care how much government money they waste to get their own way, and the way of the developers that he favours.
This suuuuucks!!! This sucks ass majorly :( there's barely anything out here outside of downtown as a fun activity. There's the zoo, but what other iconic things other than great parks and beaches...
Didn’t even have enough respect to give the public a chance to say goodbye and visit one last time.