From Globe:
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-three-companies-chosen-to-revitalize-ontario-place/
Three companies, including a Quebec outdoor recreation firm and a European spa and water park provider, have been chosen to revitalize Ontario Place after a closed-door bid process that has dragged on for years, sources have told The Globe and Mail.
The Ontario government plans to give Quebec’s Écorécréo the reins for part of the 63-hectare site on Toronto’s waterfront, along with Austrian company Therme, the sources said. Live Nation, which runs the performance venue at Ontario Place, will have an expanded role.
A formal government announcement could come as early as this month. The Globe is not identifying its sources, who have direct knowledge of the bid process, because they are not authorized to speak publicly. Provincial Tourism Minister Lisa MacLeod, who in recent months has promised big news soon on Ontario Place, offered no comment when reached on Wednesday evening.
Taken together, the choice of companies appears to hark back to Ontario Place’s earlier days, offering outdoorsy activities, year-round live entertainment and a more sophisticated take on a water park, with both a beach and spa facilities.
But even if the overall vision gets public approval, the lack of community input into the process has raised hackles. “There’s no public consultation,” said Suzanne Kavanagh, a founder of the grassroots group Ontario Place for All. “Every time there’s a new minister or a new adviser, we write a nice letter saying ‘welcome and we’d love to talk to you’ … and we’ve yet to hear anything.” Ms. Kavanagh and other local activists say they want more of Ontario Place turned into parkland and kept open to the public, without visitors necessarily having to pay to enjoy the site.
The three winning firms did not respond to inquiries about their plans.