Two years after the province announced the closure of the Ontario Science Centre, two city councillors are realizing that it’s unlikely to reopen at its original site. They’re asking the province to hand over control to the city so local community organizations can make use of it.
Once filled with curious kids and visitors, the sprawling campus next to Don Mills Road is now mostly quiet except for construction related to the Ontario Line.
However, Couns. Jon Burnside and Josh Matlow have put forward a motion aimed at revitalizing the vacant buildings.
They’re requesting that the Ontario government, which owns the structure, transfer ownership to the city that co-owns the land it occupies.
“We’re looking at ways that we can actually make good use of not only the building, but the property that’s in such a good location,” said Burnside, who represents Don Valley East where this former attraction is located.
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Burnside pointed out that both Flemingdon Park and Thorncliffe Park, which are nearby, could really benefit from this community space – not to mention a local school.
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Get breaking Canada news delivered to your inbox as it happens so you won’t miss a trending story. “The school down the street, Marc Garneau, they’re putting in their 13th portable; it’s bursting at the seams,” he said. “So one of the ideas is to move the school up to the Science Centre to use a portion of it for the school itself.” The motion will be brought before city council during its final meeting of this term starting Wednesday. It mentions that worst-case scenarios cited by the province for abandoning this facility never came true. Two winters with record snowfall didn’t lead to roof collapses as provincial officials had warned could happen. Brian Rudy, an architect with Moriyama Teshima Architects who originally designed these iconic buildings over 50 years ago, believes this idea makes sense. He acknowledged it would take both time and money but sees potential for new life here. More on Politics More videos “It’s a very large and complex building, but it does lend itself to multiple different uses and a phased occupancy,” said Rudy. “In fact that’s one of the things we are suggesting in our preliminary investigation.” But Rudy also stressed how important it is for the province to allow an inspection so we can understand what needs attention before further degradation occurs. Story continues below Additionally, he mentioned that philanthropic offers similar to those seen during earlier announcements about closure would likely arise again for funding repairs needed for this facility. The Mayor of Toronto Olivia Chow echoed how outside investment would be necessary if ownership were indeed transferred from province. “Are you kidding me? We don’t mind helping out; we absolutely don’t have capital funds available to fix up Ontario Science Centre,” Chow replied when asked if city funds could cover repairs. A provincial spokesperson simply stated discussions between Toronto City Council and Toronto and Region Conservation Authority are ongoing when asked about this motion. © 2026 , a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.Source link
