The Ford Government and the Ontario Science Center

by Maj (ret'd) CORNELIU. CHISU, CD, PMSC, FEC, CET, P. Eng. Former Member of Parliament Pickering-Scarborough East In this province, and specifically related to the city of Toronto,we have developed the habit of letting our most valuable assets rot and crumble, while finding money for the construction of many new towers. Just look at the state of our hospitals, our transit system,our roads and our general infrastructure.Are we justified in still thinking that Ontario and Canada are the center of the world? The Ontario Science Center, which was designed by prominent architect Raymond Moriyama, was the world's first interactive science centre when it opened in 1969. Unfortunately, years of limited capital investments have left it with several deficiencies over the years. The Ford government announced the closure of the Ontario Science Centre on June 21, immediately cancelling summer camps and barring entry to visitors. According to the province, the sudden closure was necessary due to a new report from professional engineers, which found serious structural issues with the building. The report indicated that these issues, specifically with regard to some roof tiles, could become critical as early as this winter under the pressure of heavy snow. It is interesting that these issues are coming to light now. Was there no previous indication of problems?What kind of maintenance plan was in place at the Ontario Science Center under the supervision of the oh, so competent Ministry of the Province of Ontario? The whole affair is an interesting one and reflects the approach of the Ontario Government towards the promotion of science in general. They are ready to spend billions of dollars on politically motivated investments, but are skinflints when it comes onspending a few dollars on science education for the public. It is very sad and highly concerning that they would cite an engineering report out of context, and interpret it to mean that the Ontario Science Center must be closed and demolished. Is this really in the public interest, or are they following their own mean political interests to make the developer world happy? The position of the City of Toronto is also concerning. It owns the land on which the Ontario Science Center is located and leased to the Province, yet they only blame the Province rather thanlooking to themselves. Isn’ it nice to pay for woke projects instead of supporting science? The Ford government's decision to close the Ontario Science Centre has already sparked extensive criticism, but pleasedo not forget the role of the City of Toronto. There seems to be some sort of a dark gentlemen’s agreement between these two entities about which the general public is not aware at this time. Many advocates who note the engineer’s report used to justify closure for safety reasons, have proposed alternative measures, such as restricting access to vulnerable roof areas and installing temporary reinforcements and horizontal boarding. Moriyama Teshima Architects, the firm that designed the centre, suggested the province's abrupt closure was politically motivated, and offered free repair services to keep it open. "We offer our architectural services pro bono to the Government of Ontario to realize the necessary roof repairs and we encourage the structural and building science community to similarly offer pro bono services for this scope to accomplish the recommended repairs immediately,” said the architecture firm. The government was already planning to relocate the science centre to the waterfront Ontario. Indeed the Ford government already planned to move the science centre from its current location to a redeveloped Ontario Place site, next to a planned spa being built by Austrian company Therme, an expanded Live Nation concert venue, as well as new public space and beaches. So, it is clear that the closure of the Ontario Science Center was a premeditated fact in order to clearly accommodate developers’ requests.The Ontario Place attraction with the new Science Center,under much smaller dimensions,is not slated to open until 2028. Officials said they would look for a temporary space to house some of the programming and exhibits in the meantime. If these officials had been professionals, they would have had a temporary place ready before the closure, in order not to have interruptions in promoting science. The bare truth is that nobody in the Ontario government and related public service seems to be interested in science at all. They are more interested in rewriting history and spending precious money on that. By the way, the roofing material that triggered the closure of the Ontario Science Centre is used in hundreds of other public buildings across the province, including schools. Why have those other buildings not been closed over safety concerns? A business case released last year by the government found that the current building is facing $369 million in deferred and critical maintenance needs over the next 20 years. Ontario's auditor general said in a report last year that alack of government funding is a key causative factor in the Center’s state of decay. That report also found the government made its decision to move the centre to Toronto's waterfront with "preliminary and incomplete cost information" and failed to consult key stakeholders. Let us hope that the closing of the Ontario Science Center will not generate a scandal similar to the one related to the Green Belt. One never knows what is brewing behind the scenes. Ironically, temporary relocation will be at least as expensive and up to three times more costly than making the $22-$40M in roof repairs, which Infrastructure Ontario cited as the reason for the Centre’s abrupt closure. Are we looking at a new Ford government controversy?Let us see how it unfolds.