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

What about moving clubland into Ontario Place? My current sense of things is that there is an uneasy peace with the current set up of clubland, and Ontario Place is empty for most of the year so there cant be much friction with residents. There is plenty of parking space to be developed, so its not like anything would have to be demolished. Turn it into a purpose built entertainment area.

EDIT: Err, I guess I was referring more to the Ex Grounds than Ontario Place, but what is good for one is good for another. The division between the two in general is a poor idea.
 
It's not very accessible, that's the only problem I see now.

I think Ontario place would do better as a more muture theme park or at the very least cater to both the yonge and not so yonge.

Either way that's only something that'll work in the summer.

I don't like the idea of moving the science center to Ontario place:
1) There's not enough space, the science center is huge. No idea where they'd fit everything.

Maybe an aquarium?
I'd rather a museum be closer to downtown.
 
I know that we have many anti-casino individuals on this forum,but this would be an ideal space to build a waterfront casino_On the empty lands north of Ontario Place they have had plans for a boutique hotel for the past 10 years and nothing has happened. I say get a hotel built,get the future proposed aquarium down there,a small theme park with the worlds tallest ferris wheel,bring down the science centre and run a APM people mover between the Convention Ctr.BMO MA and all added atractions to the existing GO/TTC CNE station and Bob's your uncle.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferris_wheel
 
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I worked at Ontario Place last summer and saw the accessablility first hand. As I'm a student I can't afford a car and parking pass, so was forced to take the 511 streetcar to the ex, and walk from there. Almost late for work every day! I think they could run either the 511 or the 509 south so it ends up near the OP main entrance.

The idea of moving clubland there is also not a bad idea, again, transit would have to be inproved!
 
You could've taken the Dufferin Bus to the Dufferin Gates, and then walk, you'd still get to OP on time. I plan to work at OP next Summer, so that's my transportation plan.
 
T.O.Fanatic said:
I worked at Ontario Place last summer and saw the accessablility first hand. As I'm a student I can't afford a car and parking pass, so was forced to take the 511 streetcar to the ex, and walk from there. Almost late for work every day! I think they could run either the 511 or the 509 south so it ends up near the OP main entrance.
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Ah yes, the summer job. For the summer of 1992 I worked as an Admissions person at OP, when we had to wear full woolen pants and blazers (now, IIRC, they were shorts, etc..). In the summer of 1993 I worked as a Parking Lot attendant at OP, which was much easier, as that summer was one of the rainiest on record, so I sat in my booth in an empty parking lot reading books and playing pylon hockey with the others.

As for getting there from my parents place at Warden and Kingston Rd., it was awful. I'd wait ages for the #12 Vic Park bus, and then ride the subway to Dufferin, where the slowest streetcars in existence would trundle down Dufferin at 20 kph (during track replacement, the substitute bus was a rocket by comparison) , from the CNE I'd then have to hike across to Ontario Place. It usually took at least 90 minutes to get to work. So, I gave up on the TTC, and began riding my bicycle instead, which would normally take about 40 minutes. I'd ride down Kingston Rd to Queen, and then down King to Bathurst, over the bridge and into OP. If I had an early morning weekend shift, I'd ride along Lakeshore, and if I had time to kill, I'd take the Martin Goodman trail along the Beach. It was rough on the the late night rides home, but my girlfriend (now wife) would meet me at her place in Beach(es) with a tall drink.

If you can swing it on your bike, I'd scrap the TTC ride altogether.
 
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I'm glad they're suggesting better pedestrian links and opening up Ontario Place so that a large part of it is accessible without a fare. I'd like to think these two things would be enough to get people using those buildings on stilts which I agree are really beautiful.

I think in general exhibition place needs to be better integrated with the city - the area basically functions like a suburban shopping centre parking lot at best. It's so unpleasant to walk around and there is so little to do except during the exhibition. Why not allow mixed development (condos and retail)? Perhaps obligate developers to include twice as much parking as required for residents to accommodate tourist traffic.
 
Admiral Beez said:
Was Ontario Place ever vital in the first place?
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I worked at Ontario Place back in the late 70's/early 80's and back then it was an exciting and happening place. The restaurant/ bar I worked at (Zume Rhine) was packed every night, with huge line ups to get in. We even had to have security to watch the patio so people didn't sneak in over the fence. The waitresses, all pretty, little things from U of T, were making 200-400 dollars a night in tips. (good money, especially back then)
All the concerts were free back then with admission to the park and they had all the top performers of the day. (DISCO, DISCO, DISCO) The cinesphere had great movies and the whole park was a hive of activity. There was so much to do back then. (all free with admission) It was a fun place to work. Back than admission was FREE with 3 milk carton tops. I saw concerts there 3 times a week for FREE, when I wasn't at work. It was an amazing summer, so at one point, Ontario Place was quite a vital and happenin' place.
 
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I have great memories of Ontario Place, but last time I visited (and keeping in mind adults see things differently than kids do) it was showing its age. It's free with the Ex but not worth the price of admission otherwise. On the other hand, the Ex wasn't looking as good as it used to either. I recall having great fun at Ontario Place doing the interactive stuff that a kid in the city rarely enjoyed: the water park and the long bridges, tunnels, bashing the giant red cylinders and climbing stuff that made everything open-ended and not controlled by adults waiting for you to finish the damn ride.

So for kids I think the best thing would be to invest in a series of interactive play areas where they could burn off their energy. On the other side of Ontario Place it has some decent walking trails along the water for adults and perhaps some of the more forlorn, out of date rides over there could be replaced with patio restaurants, bars or cafes for enjoyment in the afternoons and evenings. They could squeeze in a few over there. Great night views. There would be something for kids and adults alike and the place would be in service all day.
 
shilly said:
The only reason I go to Ontario place is for the Molson amphitheatre. Good for concerts, hard to get a taxi from though.
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And a lot of people would say that it's when the Molson Amphitheatre replaced the old Forum in the mid-90s that Ontario Place (or at least the physical integrity thereof) really started going to pot...
 
calimehtar said:
I think in general exhibition place needs to be better integrated with the city - the area basically functions like a suburban shopping centre parking lot at best. It's so unpleasant to walk around and there is so little to do except during the exhibition.
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Some of The Exibition Place historical buildings at the moment are leased and pretty successful for example,The Medival Times,The Liberty Grand Entertainment Complex,Muzik Club,Gossip Restaurant are bringing some pedestrian movement from the Dufferin Street area.cant say much about the mediocre 60s building which i understand have no central heating like The Better Living Cntr.The Food Building etc,these buildings pretty well stay closed all year round except for the 18 days of the CNE The two sports complexes which are The BMO Field and The Ricoh Collisium plus the Trade/Convention Centre seem to be doing OK

calimehtar said:
Why not allow mixed development (condos and retail)? Perhaps obligate developers to include twice as much parking as required for residents to accommodate tourist traffic
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There is no way i would like to see and support any condos or retail in the CNE we have many other areas for that,we must keep it as an entertainment centre.At the moment Exibition Place is the home to The Chin Picnic,Caribana,The Toronto Molson Indy,The Air Show.The CNE and Midway,The Royal Winter Fair,The National Home Show,The Toronto International Boat Show,The Toronto Sportsman's Show,and an additional 100 special events trade and consumer shows annually.All these attractions would be affected if a residential neighbourhood moved into this space.
Note.Exibition Place also employs 1,250 young people during the 18 days of the fair and aprox 1500 people year round.
 
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adma said:
And a lot of people would say that it's when the Molson Amphitheatre replaced the old Forum in the mid-90s that Ontario Place (or at least the physical integrity thereof) really started going to pot...
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For sure. The place was happening into the 1990s and I've always had a soft spot for it, particularly compared to the over-the-top Ex across the bridge.

I have fond memories of going to Children's Village, the Cinesphere and Forum concerts. I remember getting there early in the day, saving a seat by leaving a blanket and cooler on a bench and going to enjoy the park - a very Toronto experience.

After building Molson they started experimenting with different schemes...admission free but everything inside cost money, then more of a standard play-all-day pass thing...Probably a couple of other models which escape me.

There's a lot of potential in terms of the geography and the facilities that are already there. All they really need to do is improve access and have a PLAN; that's what's been wanting since the "Ontario is Great!" thing became obsolete. I also agree that it should be part of an overall Ex re-development but I think it needs to maintain its unique status - maybe as the ex's older sibling - as Epcot is to The Magic Kingdom. IT doesn't need a midway and a building with 99-cent spaghetti.
 
Several years ago there was lots of talk about either merging Ontario Place with Exhibition Place or at least running the two sites as one. Any idea what happened with that idea? It does seem silly and wasteful to have two separate entities both run by public bodies sitting side by side.
 
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