Toronto mayor Olivia Chow said Friday that the Ontario government has an obligation to preserve the original Ontario Science Centre building and the city cannot afford the hefty price tag required to repair the aging building.
The provincial government permanently closed the facility three weeks ago, citing an engineering report from Rimkus Consulting Group that showed structural issues with the roof. The government said a second report released this week from another firm further justified its decision, and the building needs hundreds of millions of dollars worth of repairs.
Ms. Chow said that the province’s lease agreement with the city means they cannot relinquish responsibility over the 55-year-old building.
“They signed a 99-year lease to operate a science centre – they cannot just walk away,” Ms. Chow said. She told reporters at the site of an event marking her first year in office that the lease says nothing except a science centre can operate at the site.
“The lease is very clear that this is for a science centre,” she said. “There’s nothing else that can be constructed at that site except a science centre – not a theme park, not condos.”
The mayor said the city is projecting a significant budget shortfall this year and has already identified $26-billion worth of infrastructure costs over the next 10 years.
“We don’t have the financial means to fix the science centre,” she said.
The province has announced a replacement building for the science centre will be built at Ontario Place along Toronto’s waterfront in 2028, as part of a large-scale redevelopment that includes a $350-million private spa.
Earlier this week, Ontario Premier Doug Ford defended his government’s decision to close the facility and said it’s up to the city to determine what happens to the building.
“We don’t own the property,” said Mr. Ford. “It’s the city of Toronto that owns it and anything they decide to do – outside of building another science centre – we’ll be there to support them. Do whatever you want to do with it.”
On Thursday, the province released a peer review of the Rimkus report by VanBoxmeer & Stranges Engineering, which confirmed the first report’s findings. Neither report said that the science centre needs to be closed, but both recommended that if the building’s high-risk roof panels are not replaced by Oct. 31, there should be “restricted access or full closure to prevent any persons from walking in areas where high risk panels are present.”
Ontario’s Infrastructure Minister Kinga Surma said that it would take half-a-billion dollars to complete all the necessary repairs at the science centre – a number that’s been disputed.
Sandford Borins, professor emeritus at the Rotman School of Management, previously told The Globe that the high price tag for the repairs is at least in part the fault of the provincial government itself. “The Ford government, from 2020 on, envisioned the science centre being moved to Ontario Place … They didn’t allocate any costs to it.”
A 2023 report from the Auditor-General of Ontario showed that more than $12-million dollars in maintenance work had been approved since 2016, while $16-million worth of projects were not, which resulted in further deterioration of the building.
Ash Milton, spokesperson for the Minister of Infrastructure said in a statement that the land where the science centre is located is owned by the City of Toronto and the Toronto Region Conservation Authority but that no decisions have been made on the future of the site. He said that a recent fiscal deal between the province and the city included an agreement to discuss the future of the old science centre building.
Meanwhile, the provincial deal has agreed to pause its work at Ontario Place – including the permanent destruction of any trees, shrubs or buildings – until a court can hear a constitutional challenge of the project on July 19, according to court records.
A group called Ontario Place Protectors, which is made up of architects, historians and citizens, is challenging the government’s Rebuilding Ontario Place Act as unconstitutional. The application will be heard in Ontario Superior Court on July 19. Ms. Surma declined to comment on the application this week, saying the matter is now before the courts.