A new proposal is looking to revamp Exhibition Place with a $150 million redevelopment plan that could begin to transform the area within the next several years.
Officials are looking to turn the grounds into a public space that can be used year-round with a new food hall, festival plaza, concert venue and hotel.
Exhibition Place CEO Don Boyle told CityNews the vision is about connecting the district seamlessly with transit routes like the upcoming Ontario Line, and making the area pedestrian friendly.
“What you’re going to see happen is the food building will become a food hall. It will be your entrance to the Exhibition Station,” Boyle explained.
He said the area will include a scenic promenade and a festival plaza that will replace much of the Better Living building that exists today.
Boyle said he wants to “make it a really lively, everyday destination, as opposed to just a ticketed event […] entire festivals could take place in that space.”
“We can take all the great things we do here now with our 2,100 events and six million people, but do it even that much better and do that much more,” he added.
The vision was recently endorsed by Exhibition Place’s Board of Governors and now will be brought to the public and all levels of governments for approval.
Their hope is that the plan will complement and not compete with the Ontario government’s ongoing redevelopment of the nearby Ontario Place.
“Our property really connects to the waterfront and it’s that gateway to the waterfront so I think I see them as being complimentary to one another,” Boyle explained. “For the visitor that comes in, out of town to the site and takes the GO train, when they get off they’re just expecting one clear, seamless experience.”
If approved, the plan could see construction beginning in 2029. Public consultations are expected to start this fall.
(STUDIO tla/Exhibition Place).
