Rally held as community angered by Ontario Science Centre closure
Ford government shut down centre without warning Friday citing safety concerns with building’s roof
Dozens of people attended a rally in Toronto Sunday urging Premier Doug Ford's government to reverse its decision to abruptly close the Ontario Science Centre.
The crowd at Wells Hill Park in the St. Clair West neighbourhood included children, educators, advocates and politicians. Children blew whistles and hoisted homemade signs declaring their love for the facility as the crowd chanted "Save our science centre."
"We are joining all of these folks in saying to the Ford government: reopen the science centre," Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles said in an interview at the rally.
"This is not your science centre. It is Ontario's science centre. It is the kids' science centre. It belongs to them and they deserve a say."
The province announced Friday it was closing the popular landmark and attraction in Toronto's Don Mills neighbourhood that day, citing safety concerns with the building's roof contained in an engineering report it had commissioned.
The report from engineering firm Rimkus Consulting Group found structural issues with some roof panels, some of which require replacement or reinforcement by Oct. 31, 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 issues could be fixed at a cost of between $22 million and $40 million, the province said it chose to shutter the location indefinitely to protect the health and safety of visitors and staff.
The Ford government already planned to move the science centre from its current location to a redeveloped Ontario Place site, next to a planned spa being built by Austrian company Therme, an expanded Live Nation concert venue, as well as new public space and beaches. Under those plans, the science centre building won't open up until 2028.
Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie, who also attended the rally, said urged the government to reverse its decision to close the science centre. She said the roof could be fixed at a fraction of the cost of the government's recent decision to allow beer and wine sales in convenience stores.
"This is being done to justify the $600 million parking lot that's going into Ontario Place ... to help Therme, a foreign multinational company that has been given a 95 year lease on public land," Crombie said. "That, for me, is shocking."
Closure an attack on education, parent says
Workers erected fencing around the science centre on Friday, blocking access to the building and its parking lots. Private security guards patrolled the site.
Katarina Gligorijevic and Colin Geddes had planned to take their son Sasha to the centre that day but had an unexpected scheduling conflict, meaning the eight-year-old wasn't able to visit one last time before it closed.
The science centre was "one of the important cornerstones of our schedule" for Sasha, who is homeschooled and loved to spend hours looking at the frog section, his parents said at the rally.
"The abruptness of the closure felt extremely unnecessary and cruel," Gligorijevic said.
"To not give the thousands of kids in the city who love the science centre a chance to go one last time ... it was just totally unnecessary and totally unreasonable," she said.
Arushi Nath, a Grade 9 student in Toronto who won the top prize at the Canada-Wide Science Fair in both 2022 and 2023, credits the centre with fuelling her curiosity.
"It's where I learned it's OK for women and everyone to be passionate about science," she said.
Closing it amounts to "robbing children of their scientific curiosity and childhood dreams," Nath said.
Neighbours, parents outraged
The decision to close the centre has prompted anger among neighbours and parents.
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," 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 believes the government is using the report to justify its 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
The facility, which was designed by prominent architect Raymond Moriyama, was the world's first interactive science centre when it opened in 1969. But years of limited capital investments have left it with several deficiencies.
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 lack of government funding is a key cause of that, Ontario's auditor general said in a report last year. That report also found the government made its decision to move the centre to Toronto's waterfront with "preliminary and incomplete cost information" and failed to consult key stakeholders.
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.
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow said the city will do what it can to help.
"The City of Toronto will do everything we can to assist so that kids will have a chance to be wondered by science," Chow said at an unrelated event Saturday.
"The City of Toronto will look for spaces. We'll cooperate with the workers, the board and the Ontario government to see what we can do to assist."
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.
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With files from The Canadian Press and Spencer Gallichan-Lowe