Critics are once again questioning the Ford government’s decision to close the Ontario Science Centre abruptly, and the reason behind it, days after a record winter storm pummelled Toronto.
A year and a half ago, government officials announced that engineers had found structural issues with the roof of the 55-year-old facility. The engineering report found that there were several roof panels “in a distressed, high-risk condition” that could fail under the weight of snow.
But days after a record snowfall, the roof appears unharmed – at least from the outside – leading local leaders to once again criticize the government’s reason for the closure.
“The closure of the science centre was done under false pretenses, and the roof has demonstrated itself to have more integrity than the Doug Ford government itself,” said Coun. Josh Matlow.
Earlier this week, Ford was asked if he did, in fact, provide a false reason for the closure of the science centre.
“Not at all. I had two independent engineering firms telling me it’d be dangerous, and when there are children in there and saying there’s a possibility of the roof collapsing, I’m not gonna chance having children in there, and I’m responsible for that – not happening,” he told reporters on Monday.
The engineering reports Ford referenced never explicitly stated that a closure was necessary, but rather that repairs were needed in specific sections of the roof.
An independent firm tells CityNews that if keeping the facility open was a danger to the public, the engineers involved would have been legally obligated to say so.
“The engineer never said close the centre,” said Yasser Korany, a consulting forensic engineer with KSI Engineering. “Even the manner by which they went about closing it, there was no rush, there was no imminent danger.”
Removing the record amount of snow from the science centre roof is no easy task. Infrastructure Ontario tells CityNews that only limited snow removal has taken place in select areas and under strict engineering controls. It’s unknown what the condition of the building is from the inside.
“If they don’t maintain it and keep the heat on, it might actually deteriorate because of neglect,” said Matlow.
Infrastructure Ontario says it is taking preventative measures to maintain the integrity of the structure and roof since the facility was closed.
While it is clear the Ford government will not reopen the science centre at its previous location, calls are growing louder to reopen the building in some capacity.
“If they were to make the ill-fated mistake of replacing it with something else, it damn well better be able to live up to that standard of delivering educational, community, and cultural prosperity,” said Liberal MPP Adil Shamji.
When the government announced the abrupt closure of the science centre, its press release said the Ontario Place facility would open “as early as” 2028. However, a 2024 report from Ontario’s auditor general on the Ontario Place redevelopment said, “the new building is expected to open in 2029.”
Last December, the province announced the science centre would open an interim location at Toronto’s Harbourfront Centre in the summer of 2026.
