Rally in East Toronto calls for reversal of plans to move Ontario Science Centre
By Alan Shackleton
A large crowed gathered at East Lynn Park on Sunday, March 3, to oppose plans by the provincial government to move the Ontario Science Centre (OSC) from its current home on Don Mills Road to the Toronto waterfront.
The rally was organized by Beaches-East York Liberal MPP Mary-Margaret McMahon and featured a large number of speakers from across the city including youngsters who had been directly impacted by being able to go to the OSC in its present location on Don Mills Road just south of Eglinton Avenue.
“I love being able to do science experiments and learn fun things about science there,” said nine-year-old Alicia Zhu of Thorncliffe Park which is located just south of the OSC. “I also love going to the space observatory and learning about the stars, and I also love seeing the rainforest there as well.”
She said if the OSC relocated down to the waterfront on the Ontario Place lands, which is the proposal by the Progressive Conservative government of Premier Doug Ford, the chances for her and her friends to go would be severely impacted.
“It would be out of reach for the people of my community,” said Zhu.
Alicia Zhu, 9, speaks at the rally to stop plans for the moving of the Ontario Science Centre on Sunday, March 3, in East Lynn Park. Photo by Alan Shackleton.
East Toronto resident Floyd Ruskin, of Save Ontario’s Science Centre and Lost Rivers Toronto, said the support to keep the OSC on the Don Valley ravine where it is currently located is strong among Liberal, NDP and Green Party members of the provincial government.
He called the plan by Ford’s government “ill advised” and said its links to a private spa being planned for the Ontario Place site along with the possibility of re-developing the OSC site were concerning.
“The government has tied the redevelopment of Ontario Place to the science centre,” said Ruskin.
He said the issue was not for just the East Toronto residents attending Sunday’s rally but for the entire city and province.
“It is the science centre for all of the people and it should stay where it is,” said Ruskin.
McMahon spoke passionately against the plans to move the OSC and what a bad idea it was .
“We want it to remain in its rightful home on the ravine in the beautiful building designed by (renowned Canadian architect) Raymond Moriyama,” she said. “Not every tourist destination site needs to be downtown. There’s no need for it to be down there (at Ontario Place).”
McMahon said keeping the pressure on the provincial government could well lead to a reversal of the plan for the OSC, as was the case when the province changed its plans to develop parts of the Greenbelt.
“It seems like they pull these ideas out of hat, and then we end up so many reversals just like the Greenbelt,” she said.
Other speakers at the rally which lasted almost two hours included Mayor Olivia Chow, Toronto-Danforth Councillor Paula Fletcher, Toronto-Danforth NDP MPP Peter Tabuns, Don Valley East Liberal MPP Adil Shamji (who has the Ontario Science Centre in his riding), and Scarborough-Guildwood Liberal MPP Andrea Hazell.
The OSC was built as a Canada Centennial project by the provincial government and opened in 1969.
According to a report by Infrastructure Ontario, it would cost Ontario more money to repair the existing Ontario Science Centre than if a new facility were to be built.
The report said that an estimated minimum of $396 million over the next 20 years would be required for the repairs to the science centre if it were to remain on Don Mills Road. However, the same report also suggested that a new facility at Ontario Place would cost just $9 million less than repairing the existing centre.
A large crowd turned up at East Lynn Park on Sunday, March 3, to protest provincial government plans to move the Ontario Science Centre. Photo by Alan Shackleton.
