Tourism Minister Michael Coteau says the province will move forward “as fast as it can” in transforming Ontario Place into an urban park complete with a year-round music venue, a hub for discovery and innovation and a canal district with restaurants and shops.
The former amusement park was closed by the province in 2012 amid declining attendance and an advisory panel was appointed to help determine the future of the site.
That panel, headed by then Civic Action head John Tory, subsequently delivered a report which called for the 155-acre site to be redeveloped in such a way as to attract people year-round.
Now, Coteau is vowing to make many of the 18 recommendations in that report a reality, including a year-round music venue and innovation hub.
The province, however, will not consider rezoning the land to allow for the creation of a low-rise residential component as Tory’s panel had called for.
“There will be no condominiums going up on this site,” Coteau told reporters Thursday morning. “This will be for community and it will be for Ontarians. This is Ontario Place and we are going to continue with that legacy.”
Though Premier Kathleen Wynne had previously ruled out any residential component on the Ontario Place site during several campaign appearances, Coteau’s announcement adds a degree of certainty to that promise.
“I was pretty pleased with what I heard today,” Coun. Mike Layton told CP24 after the announcement. “It gets away from the building up of the space and gets back to preserving it as a green space and with all the new neighbours moving into the waterfront communities — Liberty Village, Fort York — we need to protect the remaining green spaces we have.”
Timeline remains unknown
The first phase of the Ontario Place revitalization is the construction of an urban park and waterfront trail, which will begin in the next few months with an estimated completion sometime in 2016.
From there the province will begin work on an environmental assessment that will bring the site to a “place where it is ready for development by partners,” according to Coteau.
The timeline for the completion of the full revitalization is not known as it will depend on financing from the private sector in addition to the $100 million pledged by the province.
“We know the vision, we know the theme, but it is important that we get it right so I can’t commit to a specific time,” Coteau said. “We want to do this as quickly as possible.”
Coteau says the province will also “work closely” with the city on improving the link between Ontario Place, Exhibition Place and the surrounding communities, though it remains unclear whether that will mean any improvements to public transit in the area.
@chrisfoxnews is on Twitter. Remember for instant breaking news follow @cp24 on Twitter.
