Parts of Ontario Place to be closed for overhaul
Posted February 1, 2012 5:34 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
TORONTO, Ont. – A major revamp of Ontario Place is underway.
The Ontario government announced, Wednesday, that certain sections of the park will be closed, and that former Progressive Conservative leader John Tory will be in charge of the refurbishment.
While the Molson Amphitheatre, the marina, the Atlantis entertainment venue and parking facilities will remain open, the other facilities will be closed.
Finance Minister Dwight Duncan made the announced at a news conference Wednesday morning, along with Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport Michael Chan.
“We’re subsidizing $20 million a year and we need to redevelop the site so it’s more accessible for families, more accessible to the entire community. We can’t continue, when we’re trying to improve education, health care, to subsidize the parts of the park that don’t generate revenue,” Duncan explained.
He said the park needs to be more accessible to visitors in order to return to the profitable destination it used to be.
“Ontario Place is a great destination. It sits on some of the most valuable real estate in the country, if not North America,” he said. “The park does not draw enough people to its gates to keep it sustainable in its current form.”
The park drew 2.5-million visitors when it opened in 1971.
The John Tory-led advisory panel will consider all plans for the park, including a much rumoured casino.
“The government has not considered casinos, additional casinos. The OLG is conducting a land based gaming review. They will be bringing forward recomendations. They will likely be very comprehensive,” explained Duncan.
Forty-eight permanent jobs will be lost as a result of the closure, as will 600 summer student positions.
The government hopes to have the newly refinished park open by 2017, for Canada’s 150th anniversary.
