Toronto Ontario Place | ?m | ?s | Infrastructure ON

From a government press release today:
McGuinty Government Endorses Panel Recommendations For Transformation

Ontario is moving forward to transform Ontario Place into a year-round, multi-use waterfront community and urban park where families can live, work, play and discover along the water's edge.

The government has endorsed the report by the Minister's Advisory Panel on Ontario Place Revitalization -- led by John Tory -- and all of its recommendations including the following design and development principles:

Must be accessible and welcoming to all who visit.
Be flexible and have the ability to adapt to changes over time to respond to different audiences and interests.
Respect and enhance the natural beauty of the surroundings by protecting sightlines to the water, creating easy public access to the waterfront and restoring a landscape culturally specific to Ontario and its waterfront.
No more than 10-15 per cent of the total land-water property can be residential.
Mixed-use community that may include space for commerce and business -- corporate headquarters, hotel, cafes, retail -- a research/education centre of excellence, and a range of entertainment and cultural activities.
Over the coming months, the government will begin the necessary work to develop the site for development -- this could include site preparations, geotechnical investigations and surveys -- and start conversations with partners and the private sector to lay the foundation for the revitalization to take place.

Revitalizing Ontario Place is part of the McGuinty Government's plan to establish an iconic, world-class destination along the waterfront for Ontarians that will offer a new era of experiences, create jobs and further strengthen the economy.
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I'm nervous and not very confident that the people in charge, will do the right thing for Ontario Place and Torontonians. I bet it's the corporations who will end up the victors here.
 
I'm pleased at the speed of which the recommendations have been adapted, not pleased about the residential.
 
They CANNOT be allowed to demolish the Cinesphere and pods. It's like suggesting we knock down the CN Tower. I'll be the first to chain myself to the Cinesphere should it come to that.

This is looking more and more like a selloff of public land and it cannot be allowed. I'd be perfectly fine with developing low rise residential on the parking lots on the lakeshore side of Ontario Place. There are acres of land for that available so there is no need to touch any part of the Ontario Place island.

The Cinesphere has worldwide historical significance as it was the first permanent IMAX theatre in the world. It would be an absolute no brainer to partner with Cineplex to redevelop the Cinesphere and the Pods into a mainstream movie theatre. Either keep the huge IMAX screen for top box office hits and educational IMAX movies when nothing else is showing or split the space into multiple theatres. There would be room in the pods for further screens and other entertainment activities.

The Cinesphere MUST stay! It's time for Toronto to designate it a heritage building.
 
I agree, the people of Toronto need to come together to protect Ontario Place, which I consider the most beautiful and iconic part of our waterfront. Those pods and Cinesphere must be kept as is. The parking lots on the mainland are what needs to be developed. If we stand back and say/do nothing, in 10 years we might regret it, if McGuinty sells us out. You just can't let politicians do what they please, with our public assets.
 
Errrrr......no more then 10 - 15% can be residential? Really! There shouldn't be any, there's already enough residential by the water front. Ontario Place was a place for fun, not to live. That's just my humble opinion, but I think they should have kept it as a tourist attraction. As I said before, add a few new exciting attractions, make it affordable, and smoothly integrated with the exhibition grounds for all to enjoy. But, then again, they are building Condo X right on the CNE grounds, I suppose nothing is safe from the condo infestation. Just seems such a shame, a city this size desperately needs more entertainment grounds to spend the day that is fun for the entire family, without having to leave the city. I'm 43, and I still remember, as a kid, how much fun Ontario Place was, I wish to god they would rekindle that, and save the condos for the inner core. Does any one else agree?
 
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Of course I agree. Just wait for the beginning of the first summer when they reopen and once the first concert at Molson Amphitheatre begins then watch the neighbours in the high end condos start screaming. We've seen this all before in so many areas of the city. The other thing is let's say X, Y and Z developers buy the parcels of property to develop, sales go well and they want to build higher. Again, we've seen this before. Off to the OMB they go and there's nothing the city can do to stop them.

MetroMan: If they dare to declare the pods and Cinesphere redundant give me a time and a date and I'll see you there with chains.
 
dt_toronto_geek said:
MetroMan: If they dare to declare the pods and Cinesphere redundant give me a time and a date and I'll see you there with chains.
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Yeah: at the present, in that blurb, I see *nothing* hinting at endangerment there. And remember: the sphere'n'pods are just a small quotient of the entire Ontario Place space...
 
A serious tourist/leisure attraction, should not be turned into a residential area. As we now see in the Entertainment District, once residents move in, they want to stop all noise, crowds and fun. It won't be long until the same thing happens at OP, if we allow that to happen. Isn't there enough land in the east waterfront and the rest of the city? If we have the HUGE Port Of Toronto still to develop (over 30 years) why do we need the parkland of OP? Those islands were created for all Ontarians, not for private ownership. It goes against the whole concept of Ontario Place.
 
Are there any campaigns on the go yet to stop the plans? I quite liked the idea presented earlier of giving the land to Waterfront Toronto. Give it to them with the mandate of turning it into an award winning park and year round attraction and see what they can come up with. A public asset like this should be able to be enjoyed by all...not sectioned off and sold to private developers.
 
Converting part of this to residential doesn't seem like good urban planning to me. I imagine it would feel isolated. Certainly, residents would give it some life, but would a single woman who owns a 500 sq ft condo here feel comfortable walking around at night? Many would want a car since there are no retail amenities within close distance.
 
Hanlansboy said:
Errrrr......no more then 10 - 15% can be residential? Really! There shouldn't be any, there's already enough residential by the water front. Ontario Place was a place for fun, not to live. That's just my humble opinion, but I think they should have kept it as a tourist attraction. As I said before, add a few new exciting attractions, make it affordable, and smoothly integrated with the exhibition grounds for all to enjoy. But, then again, they are building Condo X right on the CNE grounds, I suppose nothing is safe from the condo infestation. Just seems such a shame, a city this size desperately needs more entertainment grounds to spend the day that is fun for the entire family, without having to leave the city. I'm 43, and I still remember, as a kid, how much fun Ontario Place was, I wish to god they would rekindle that, and save the condos for the inner core. Does any one else agree?
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I'm afraid the potential residents will end up like the residents in the flight paths at Person Airport (YYZ) or the club district. They'll end up complaining about the noise and people.
 
MetroMan said:
They CANNOT be allowed to demolish the Cinesphere and pods. It's like suggesting we knock down the CN Tower. I'll be the first to chain myself to the Cinesphere should it come to that.

This is looking more and more like a selloff of public land and it cannot be allowed. I'd be perfectly fine with developing low rise residential on the parking lots on the lakeshore side of Ontario Place. There are acres of land for that available so there is no need to touch any part of the Ontario Place island.

The Cinesphere has worldwide historical significance as it was the first permanent IMAX theatre in the world. It would be an absolute no brainer to partner with Cineplex to redevelop the Cinesphere and the Pods into a mainstream movie theatre. Either keep the huge IMAX screen for top box office hits and educational IMAX movies when nothing else is showing or split the space into multiple theatres. There would be room in the pods for further screens and other entertainment activities.

The Cinesphere MUST stay! It's time for Toronto to designate it a heritage building.
Click to expand...

I called Layton's office, asking the same thing. I want the OP buildings declared heritage buildings.
 
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