Exhibition Place CEO unveils plans for giant park, year-round vendors. But will his vision align with Doug Ford's?

“We have many international conferences and exhibitions that take place here but we want to be just as much for the local resident who wants to come in and discover it as a park, or the food building and get something to eat and then go to a show, or go to the Sceptres game or the new WNBA Tempo game,” Boyle told the Star.

“That is not just a destination for a ticketed event, but it’s somewhere where you can come and spend time.”

On Thursday morning, Boyle brought his “vision plan” to the board of governors, who gave it an enthusiastic endorsement. Exhibition Place is an independent agency of the city, where it receives its funding for major capital projects. For his vision plan Boyle said they’ll be looking at multi-level government funding and potentially carry a loan. 

But Boyle’s vision has stiff competition from the premier. 

Ford has made Toronto’s waterfront a focus of the province’s development plans, most recently announcing plans for a massive convention centre with Exhibition Place as a potential site, which blindsided city officials. The province is also redeveloping nearby Ontario Place and building a new Science Centre.

Boyle said he and the board haven’t discussed a convention centre with the province, but in the latest redevelopment plan he kept in mind the connection from Exhibition Place to the waterfront and Ontario Place to make the province’s and city’s plan for the space cohesive. 

“We would love to be able to be at the table with the province, and have fruitful conversations and stakeholder consultation so that it’s done in a purposeful, respectful manner between the city and the province and Exhibition Place,’ Boyle said. 

“This is a city asset, and it’s a city asset that is beloved and anything that should happen here should be done through thoughtful consultation.”

The premier’s office was not immediately available to comment. 

Plans for Exhibition Place grounds 

Exhibition Place is home to Toronto FC’s BMO Field, a site of this summer’s FIFA World Cup, and also boasts the Coca-Cola Coliseum and Enercare Centre convention venue.

The next step of Boyle’s plan is to start community consultation with construction to begin around 2028 or 2029, and the transformation hopefully finished by 2031 to coincide with the completion of the Ontario line.

The plan is a “re-imagination” of the space, which he said looks to turn the “back of house” where the Go Train is, to the “front of house,” Boyle said. 

“Now we get almost over four million people coming through that gate,” he said. “So it’s key for us now to make that more welcoming.”

The proposed Nexus Park, to be close to the food building, will be an outdoor community space with a food truck area, buskers, and art showcases.

“It’s a casual promenade that connects into the future Festival Plaza,” Boyle said, which will accommodate over 100,000 people and could be an ideal place for street festivals.

“It’s all seamlessly connected, which is key. There will be no traffic within it.”

He also wants it to be open in the winter for markets and skating.

“Winter markets take place at The Distillery, but it’s ticketed and limited. This would be a very large winter market that you could come down to and enjoy. You might skate, get hot chocolate, and have vendors with crafts and arts taking place.”

In January, the city received a development plan, which proposes a 32-storey, 370-room Hotel X and a four-storey, 5,500-seat venue fit for concerts, conventions and esports events — the new hotel would be built beside the existing Hotel X.

Boyle said the new hotel will be vital to bringing people to the grounds year-round.

As the Star has previously reported, the redevelopment would lead to a reduction in parking during the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE), but not a reduction in event space.

City vs. province

But Ford has announced a slew of plans for Exhibition Place and the surrounding area over the last few years.

In March, the premier said he was interested in putting a massive new convention centre, with “shock and awe” architecture, at the city-owned site — which already hosts conventions at the 800,000-square-foot Enercare Centre.

The news followed Ford’s shakeup of Ontario Place, which is set to include the massive private Therme waterpark and spa, and the Science Centre, which won’t be finished for another three years at the earliest.

Tensions over Ford’s waterfront plans have reached a boiling point at city hall, as city council voted overwhelmingly in March to join the ongoing legal battle against Ford’s Ontario Place redevelopment as it heads to the Supreme Court.

The Rebuilding Ontario Place Act, passed in 2023, allows the Exhibition grounds to be designated as part of the Ontario Place site.

Coun. Josh Matlow (Ward 12, Toronto—St. Paul’s) says Boyle’s new plan is a welcome and “exciting vision” that allows the land to be used all year for different attractions, food vendors, and celebrations.

“Most people recognize that Exhibition Place is tired, and it’s a shell of what it once was. It’s important that Exhibition Place, and the City of Toronto bring forward a vision for its future.”

Matlow, who’s been a vocal critic of Ford’s redevelopment plans for Toronto, said Ford has put forward plans that don’t “jive with a vision for a healthy, animated, and green vision for Exhibition Place in Toronto’s waterfront.” 

He said the public lands are owned by the people of Toronto who should be “the authors of the vision moving forward.”

Chris Glover, NDP MPP for Spadina—Fort York, said the plan from Boyle and the board is “refreshing” as everything has been done with the public in mind. 

The consultation process with community groups will allow for amendments to be made and for residents to have a say in the urban planning of their city. 

“It’s a pleasant relief from what we’ve seen from the provincial government,” he said.

“The government’s been closing, leasing out and selling off our public assets. And now, here’s the city enhancing an iconic, public asset for the betterment of the public.”