Toronto Ontario Place | ?m | ?s | Infrastructure ON

Northern Light said:
From the above article we learn that:

The proposed price point of the 'adventure park' is in the range of $13-14 per hour.

The opening date for this portion of the park is targeted at 2024-2026
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Wonderful.

Maybe Ford will offer employers the option of paying their minimum wage employees with Ontario Place vouchers instead of cash.

Why is a private company deciding this for us?
 
How is Ontario Place going to be a year round attraction when the only new inside spaces are for the paid attractions? So, only people who want to swim or see a concert can find a space to get warm in the winter but for anyone else using the park, where do they go to get a bit of relief from the cold? If that is the case, this is badly thought out. Why not build a few buildings in the park where the general public can hang out and enjoy, without having to pay an admission charge? It could be an indoor food court linked to an attraction or some kind of market with a large seating area that mixes food and shopping. Why not a free or low priced cultural attraction that also contains public seating areas?

You cannot call a park a year round attraction if there are not indoor spaces for the general (non-paid) public to enjoy and most importantly, keep warm in Winter. I think ALL major parks need public buildings, that allow the public to linger, have a coffee or get something to eat. It makes a huge difference in how a park can be used in Winter. Community centres should all be put in or beside public parks where feasible and they all need a public area to linger, preferably with a restaurant.

I like the fact that something is happening with Ontario Place, I just don't like the very narrow focus on paid attractions which are limited to very specific activities, that not everybody is into. What if I'm not into swimming or adventure playgrounds? What if I don't have 200 dollars to spend on family fun? What are my options then? I don't see anything here with a general appeal, that won't break the bank for a family that just wants to have a fun day out. Yeah, you've got a free beach but we already have lots of free beaches, including one already in the area, Sunnyside beach. They aren't giving the general public anything so far. And this set up, is certainly not year round. Not if it's only paid attractions that offer very specific indoor amusements.

Where is the government offering anything to the general public, other than landscaping in this park? Where do you see any new, creative ideas? I'm not seeing much, just the same old stuff that is done in many other places around the world. Is this really the best we can do? I was expecting MUCH more for Ontario Place! I see nothing here for me, so far.

And can I just say, if Urban Toronto has taught me anything, it's that the actual buildings will look nothing like the renderings, so don't get all excited over pretty pictures because we all know the odds are very high, that you will all be VERY DISAPPOINTED! Thank you Urban Toronto for making me a cynical SOB.
 
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Biked along the lakeshore yesterday and just felt so sad looking at Ontario Place and the West Island. Right now the West Island and the whole place feels like Ontario, from the trees and landscaping to the architecture and it all works together and compliments and interacts with the land and the shoreline. Now they're just going to bulldoze the buildings and the landscaping and the trees and other life there and plop down some domineering private corporate attractions and with faux-tropical environment inside them. It sucks. It's sad. Ford and gov and their corporate partners have no taste or good judgment and they're taking away something beautiful and a place meant to symbolize Ontario to replace it with out of place private corporatism.
 
concrete_and_light said:
Biked along the lakeshore yesterday and just felt so sad looking at Ontario Place and the West Island. Right now the West Island and the whole place feels like Ontario, from the trees and landscaping to the architecture and it all works together and compliments and interacts with the land and the shoreline. Now they're just going to bulldoze the buildings and the landscaping and the trees and other life there and plop down some domineering private corporate attractions and with faux-tropical environment inside them. It sucks. It's sad. Ford and gov and their corporate partners have no taste or good judgment and they're taking away something beautiful and a place meant to symbolize Ontario to replace it with out of place private corporatism.
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What should they have done instead? Everyone who seems to hate it for various reasons but yet they seem to have nothing to add that would actually bring people from all over Toronto and even elsewhere.
 
EastYorkTTCFan said:
What should they have done instead? Everyone who seems to hate it for various reasons but yet they seem to have nothing to add that would actually bring people from all over Toronto and even elsewhere.
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There had been so many suggestions here - did you pay attention to any of them? I am not saying this as someone who is opposed to what's been proposed here either. Attractions alone aren't sufficient - what's missing in this precinct is excellence in accessibility, landscaping and urban design - and nothing proposed so far had changed any of those aspects. You can draw people in and not create a place (like malls, or Wonderland).

One basic aspect missing is public access to the edge of the water for the rest of the OP shoreline, along the lines of Trillium Park/Davis Trail - it's an easy win - but had absolutely zero mention in what's been proposed. This isn't something that should have been left to the private sector proponents.

AoD
 
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AlvinofDiaspar said:
There had been so many suggestions here - did you pay attention to any of them? I am not saying this as someone who is opposed to what's been proposed here either. Attractions alone aren't sufficient - what's missing in this precinct is excellence in accessibility, landscaping and urban design - and nothing proposed so far had changed any of those aspects.

One basic aspect missing is public access to the edge of the water for the rest of the OP shoreline, along the lines of Trillium Park/Davis Trail - it's an easy win - but had absolutely zero mention in what's been proposed. This isn't something that should have been left to the private sector proponents.

AoD
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See that's the problem people want it to be free and open for everyone and they think that will bring people their. Having a cost or having or having to walk across parking lots isn't what has been keeping people from going their it's a lack of something that people actually want to do. Before it closed the only time it was busy was in June when school groups would come in for a Feild trip, or when they had fireworks at night or a concert at the ampthaterare otherwise people came in and stayed at the waterpark all day the wilderness adventure flume ride was a walk on and staff would go on it at times when it wasn't busy. Park land isn't going to attract people to visit for the day the waterpark idea will.
 
EastYorkTTCFan said:
See that's the problem people want it to be free and open for everyone and they think that will bring people their. Having a cost or having or having to walk across parking lots isn't what has been keeping people from going their it's a lack of something that people actually want to do. Before it closed the only time it was busy was in June when school groups would come in for a Feild trip, or when they had fireworks at night or a concert at the ampthaterare otherwise people came in and stayed at the waterpark all day the wilderness adventure flume ride was a walk on and staff would go on it at times when it wasn't busy. Park land isn't going to attract people to visit for the day the waterpark idea will.
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It's not an either or - I didn't dismiss the need for attractions - but it is insufficient as a public asset. And I also beg to differ that park space doesn't bring people in; we know Trillium Park did, and did so consistently and in a way that is accessible and free. If all one cares about is paid attraction, there is no need to dump it in OP.

AoD
 
AlvinofDiaspar said:
It's not an either or - I didn't dismiss the need for attractions - but it is insufficient. And I also beg to differ that park space doesn't bring people in; we know Trillium Park did, and did so consistently. If all one cares about is the attraction, there is no need to dump it in OP.

AoD
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Whatever neither side is going to win this debate we just need to accept what is going to happen wether we like it or not unfortunately that's the reality of how the world works to quote the rolling Stones "you can't always get what you want."
 
EastYorkTTCFan said:
Whatever neither side is going to win this debate we just need to accept what is going to happen wether we like it or not unfortunately that's the reality of how the world works to quote the rolling Stones "you can't always get what you want."
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Yes, it may be the reality that Doug Ford will get what he wants, thanks to our fellow citizens who voted for him and the PC party and his and their lack of respect towards having a process of public engagement on anything or a thoughtful plan for things beyond "sell it out to business buddies", but that's a sad reality and we should be able to express that. I do accept it's going to happen, but it still sucks and this is a forum where we talk about things and express our opinions...
 
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