Ontario Science Centre shut down over roof collapse risk, says Ford government

The Ontario Science Centre’s half-century-old building in Toronto is shutting down after structural engineers concluded its roof could collapse this winter from the weight of snowfall, the provincial government says.

The decision to close the building immediately, announced on a summer Friday afternoon, is meant to allow staff to clear exhibits out of the building by October, the province’s Infrastructure Ontario agency says.

The sudden vacating of the complex, built in 1969 in Toronto’s Flemingdon Park area and designed by the late renowned architect Raymond Moriyama, is the latest twist in the battle over the future of the attraction, which welcomes hundreds of thousands of visitors a year.

Last year, Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced plans to shut the building and build a new science centre at the Ontario Place site on Toronto’s waterfront, a move opposed by local activists who say the facility’s distinct building should be saved.

Barriers started to go up midday Friday around the facility. But the decision blindsided employees, who were to be told at a town-hall meeting on Friday afternoon. Summer camps, about to start, will be moved to a nearby school, the government says. But parents, and all science centre members, will also be offered refunds.

In the medium term, the science centre plans to look into offering mobile or pop-up exhibits – and finding a temporary home while the new facility at Ontario Place is built.

Activists have been waging a battle against the government’s redevelopment plans at Ontario Place, which include massive spa and waterpark facility to be built by Vienna-based Therme Group.

A business case released by Infrastructure Ontario that concluded that shutting the science’s centre’s aging building and moving to a new, smaller waterfront location at Ontario Place would save the struggling science centre $257-million over 50 years.

But critics called the numbers into question and blamed government neglect for failing to keep up the repairs on the existing building. Local activists have said the existing science centre benefits the local community, which includes many immigrants and low-income families.

An Auditor-General’s report last December said the government business case failed to include hundreds of millions in costs, including the price tag for a massive new parking garage and the refurbishment of the existing structure.

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow and Mr. Ford, as part of a broader financial deal for Toronto last year, also agreed that the existing science centre building would still be used for some sort of science-based programming to benefit the local community.

The existing science centre has been showing its age. The long pedestrian bridge that takes patrons to exhibits has been out of commission since 2022, requiring shuttle buses. Infrastructure Ontario says its great hall and auditorium would have had to operate without heat this fall and winter.

In documents released on Friday, the agency says the facilities roof was made using a lightweight form of concrete that was stopped being used in the 1970s. An engineering firm report has concluded that “significant roof areas” require attention before the end of October, Infrastructure Ontario says, “before snow accumulates in the winter months.”

However, the report also says the building remains safe for staff to clear out exhibits in summer and into the fall. The agency also says that the building needs to be vacant in order to perform repairs to the roof.