New Ontario Science Centre at Ontario Place to open in 2029, auditor general says

TORONTO — The timeline for opening a permanent new Ontario Science Centre appears to have been delayed, with infrastructure officials telling the auditor general’s office the centre is expected to be up and running in 2029.

When Premier Doug Ford announced last year the planned move for the attraction, from its east Toronto location to a redeveloped Ontario Place on the city’s waterfront, the science centre said the new facility would open in 2028.

In June, when the government announced the abrupt closure of the science centre over structural concerns with the roof, its press release said the Ontario Place facility would open “as early as” 2028.

Now, according to a report earlier this month from Ontario’s auditor general Shelley Spence on the Ontario Place redevelopment, “the new building is expected to open in 2029.”

That information was provided to the auditor general’s office by Infrastructure Ontario, a spokesperson for the auditor said.

Jason Ash, co-chair of the group Save Ontario’s Science Centre, said it’s a shame that there will be no permanent Ontario Science Centre for at least an extra year.

“It’s really a whole generation of Ontario children who are not going to have access to world-class science education that the Ontario Science Centre has provided for 55 years,” he said.

“Simply put, the Ontario Science Centre was unique in that the majority of its business actually came from Ontarians, with tourism coming in second place. So Ontario kids aren’t being served and tourists are not going to get a great experience either in the meantime.”

Two requests for comment from Infrastructure Minister Kinga Surma went unanswered, with a spokesperson ultimately replying to a third by saying she would not be responding.

“Due to the request submitted by the Leader of the Official Opposition to the Integrity Commissioner on October 16th, 2024, Minister Kinga Surma has been asked not to comment and will respect the process at this time,” Ash Milton wrote.

Milton’s reply came after Surma answered at least a dozen questions in question period on the auditor general’s Ontario Place redevelopment findings.

NDP Leader Marit Stiles’ integrity complaint focused largely on terms and negotiations that led to a 95-year lease for Therme to build and operate a spa and waterpark at Ontario Place, but also alleges “irregularities” with the plan to relocate the science centre.

Stiles suggests, based on information previously uncovered last year by the auditor general, that the government wanted to have the science centre at Ontario Place and integrate parking promised to Therme with the science centre building in order to dispel public concerns over the project.

“This is yet another expensive project that nobody asked for – with a plan that no one is buying,” Stiles wrote in a statement this week.

“We could have revitalized the existing Science Centre for a fraction the cost. Ford and Surma boasted about the new Science Centre opening in 2028, but that sounds like more false promises from a flailing government.”

A spokesperson for Infrastructure Ontario said the procurement process for the new centre continues, with the request for proposals stage expected to wrap up next fall.

A firm date for the completion of construction will be posted once a contract is awarded, and the opening date will depend on the centre’s timeline for moving into the new building, Karen Evans said in an email.

“The overall plan for delivering the vision remains unchanged,” she said.

That audit found that it will now cost more for the government to build a new Ontario Science Centre at Ontario Place than it would have to maintain the site it abruptly closed earlier this year.

The cost estimate for building and maintaining a new science centre at Ontario Place has increased by nearly $400 million from the government’s spring 2023 business case for relocating it, the auditor said, meaning it will cost approximately $1.4 billion — higher than the $1.3-billion estimate for maintaining the attraction at its east Toronto location.

The increase is due to higher design and construction costs, life cycle and maintenance costs, and ancillary costs that have added up because of changes to the scope of the planned building and about $61 million in cost escalations, Spence wrote.

Michael Lindsay, at the time the president and CEO of Infrastructure Ontario, said he didn’t agree that building a new science centre will cost more than rehabilitating the old one, noting that project would also be facing inflationary price increases.

Lindsay provided some reasoning for possible delays in a briefing on the day the science centre was closed.

“The language … (of “as early as” 2028) probably just reflects the realities of procurement and construction,” he said.

“We’re going to be talking to our counterparties through the procurement about what it would take to construct a new science centre, how long that might be, and so I think the plan remains the plan. That language probably just points at the reality that further conversation with our market is coming about what it’s going to take to both procure and then build the new science centre.”

Ontario is planning to have a temporary science centre open in the interim, but has not provided any public updates on that process since it issued a request for proposals in June.

That RFP showed the province is looking for retail or commercial space of about 50,000 to 100,000 square feet — much smaller than the original building’s 568,000 square feet – with a start date of “no later than” Jan. 1, 2026.

The RFP also showed that the province wants a lease of up to five years for the temporary space, plus three options to extend the lease for one year each, which would allow the government to operate a science centre in a temporary home until 2034, Ash said.

The science centre is currently operating two pop-up exhibits at Harbourfront Centre and the Sherway Gardens mall in Toronto.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 19, 2024.

Allison Jones, The Canadian Press