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

Lovely idea. That still needs solid funding though, and years of dedicated follow-through to make it work. Where is the political will of our leaders to commit to this kind of thing? Especially considering their penchant for getting re-elected for short-term gains. I don't see Doug Ford's government committing to that kind of "public good" project. It's not in their branding.

Still want to see what they have planned however. May I be pleasantly surprised!
 
Northern Light said:
What people want is a say in what those are; and what people have is a general suspicion the current government, having negotiated in secret, without any consultation or mandate
may go in a different direction, and with private interests who may charge admission to public lands..........
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Does anyone know if they had public consultation on what to do with it in the 1960's when it was built? If not I don't really get why they would need to for this. If they are going to keep it as a theme park or something like that I don't see them making admission free or allowing any to walk around it just because it happens to be owned by the Ontario government it still needs to make some money to be able to pay for the salaries of the workers and the upkeep of whatever ends up getting built.
 
EastYorkTTCFan said:
Does anyone know if they had public consultation on what to do with it in the 1960's when it was built? If not I don't really get why they would need to for this. If they are going to keep it as a theme park or something like that I don't see them making admission free or allowing any to walk around it just because it happens to be owned by the Ontario government it still needs to make some money to be able to pay for the salaries of the workers and the upkeep of whatever ends up getting built.
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I really don't mean this as a trolling comment.......But have you ever noticed how you disagree with almost everyone here, almost all the time?

Has it ever occurred to you, it might be you, and not everyone else?

I'm sincerely wondering.

You so often take positions that are contrary to accepted norms..............and seem genuinely confused as to why everyone else looks at you askance.

*****

For the record, public input into public policy should be expected in respect of all major public policy decisions and expenditures, excepting a true emergency when there is no time for such a nicety.
Whether or not this has always been the case is moot. It's a public asset. Not the government's toy.

I don't expect to be consulted on the trivial (what colour shall the new carpet be in Macdonald Block offices?) but in major matters, yes.

Every hospital project is subject to consultation, every transit project, why should Ontario Place be any different?
 
Northern Light said:
I really don't mean this as a trolling comment.......But have you ever noticed how you disagree with almost everyone here, almost all the time?

Has it ever occurred to you, it might be you, and not everyone else?

I'm sincerely wondering.

You so often take positions that are contrary to accepted norms..............and seem genuinely confused as to why everyone else looks at you askance.

*****

For the record, public input into public policy should be expected in respect of all major public policy decisions and expenditures, excepting a true emergency when there is no time for such a nicety.
Whether or not this has always been the case is moot. It's a public asset. Not the government's toy.

I don't expect to be consulted on the trivial (what colour shall the new carpet be in Macdonald Block offices?) but in major matters, yes.

Every hospital project is subject to consultation, every transit project, why should Ontario Place be any different?
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Yes I get that I have a different view of people on here that's the point of a public forum for people to share different views and opinions.

I just don't really get what people actually want to be consulted on for Ontario place. I worked there a few years ago when there wasn't much other than a few attractions in one of the restaurants.

From what I read about it it looks like one of the companies runs waterparks and I think that is something that would make sense in Toronto as the nearest ones are outside of the city and not easy for people who don't have a car to get to.
 
EastYorkTTCFan said:
Yes I get that I have a different view of people on here that's the point of a public forum for people to share different views and opinions.

I just don't really get what people actually want to be consulted on for Ontario place. I worked there a few years ago when there wasn't much other than a few attractions in one of the restaurants.

From what I read about it it looks like one of the companies runs waterparks and I think that is something that would make sense in Toronto as the nearest ones are outside of the city and not easy for people who don't have a car to get to.
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I don't get why you wouldn't want to be consulted.

But you're welcome to take a pass while they consult me.

LOL

It's my money and my land as a citizen of this province, I want a say in what is done with it and how it is operated.
 
christiesplits said:
Like many, I'm deeply troubled by the three proposals by the Ford government.

However, I'm not convinced by the social media push to return Ontario Place to a 70s-style nostalgia playground for kids and Gen X'ers. Yes, let's turn it into a 2 acre giant bouncey castle with craft beer garden. Let's see how far that makes it through Legal.

Also, keep in mind that throughout the 2000s, Ontario Place was mostly riding on its legacy. That led to paltry attendance, and ultimately its closure.

The Ontario government really needs to think outside the box. I always felt like a university or college campus was the best proposal, especially as the terminus of the Ontario Line.
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No, what lead to its closure is that they did not maintain the place and in fact, started to close down some of the main attractions. They rented out part of the park to a private company, Atlantis, for their own events and the general public was NOT invited. So the floating pods, that once had attractions in them became private space. The Forum was also torn down and concerts went from being free to ticketed events at the Molson Amphitheatre. They also closed the Children's Village which was a very popular free attraction. So to suggest that Ontario Place just faded out because it fell out of favour, is just not true. It fell out of favour because the government of the day, closed it down bit by bit, including many other aspects of the park, like the nightlife/bars/shows it once had on the west island, which also had free nightly concerts and shows. Last but not least, it didn't even maintain the buildings/infrastructure it had. Much of the pods became rusty and needed repairs. Everything was just looking badly maintained and that almost always turns off a lot of people.

The people running this park did everything they could to close this place down!
 
Northern Light said:
I don't get why you wouldn't want to be consulted.

But you're welcome to take a pass while they consult me.

LOL

It's my money and my land as a citizen of this province, I want a say in what is done with it and how it is operated.
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I'm not really sure what exactly a public consultation for something like this would actually do. Also if you go by how public consultation has gone recently it's more of a presentation of this is what we are looking to build and are probably going to do it with as little change as we can.
 
gibsonm said:
Running through the hanging bags and going down the long plastic tube slides was actually a highlight of my childhood. Those older Expo style attractions weren’t tacky or cheap either. They had a design flair about them in keeping with the architectural beauty of the pods and islands, which has actually stood the test of time.

I remember resenting the fact that Ontario Place was a second fiddle Centenary project to Montreal’s Expo. For years I’ve hoped that something like that could be done in the Port Lands with something like sustainability as the theme. Our governments are spending a fortune anyway to remediate the Don. Why not throw a subway station, international pavilions that could become affordable housing, a footbridge to Ward’s Island, and a revitalized Hearn art gallery into the mix? Have the international community help foot the bill for the housing. I think that something on that scale was always the dream for places like the CNE and Ontario Place. I know there’s a lot of cynicism about grand projects becoming white elephants. I just worry that the Ontario Place revitalization will be done on the cheap, will be underused and unable to justify its funding, and in 30 years we’ll be having this conversation again.

With regard to Legal and liability, it’s about time kids have some adventure and wield more than a joystick. Issue the necessary waivers and bring back the excitement.
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I think in Toronto, you have to go big or go home. Top quality attractions bring in the crowds. Third rate attractions like the crappy Olympic Spirit in Dundas Square, do not last long here. You need to invest some serious money in this, if you want to make it successful. You also need to update the park regularly, with new attractions, just like Canada's Wonderland and Disneyland do. Build it with quality and they will come.
 
Torontovibe said:
I think in Toronto, you have to go big or go home. Top quality attractions bring in the crowds. Third rate attractions like the crappy Olympic Spirit in Dundas Square, do not last long here. You need to invest some serious money in this, if you want to make it successful. You also need to update the park regularly, with new attractions, just like Canada's Wonderland and Disneyland do. Build it with quality and they will come.
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Exactly and that's what I think the current government is looking to do by bringing in companies who are interested in things like that.
 
Northern Light said:
I really don't mean this as a trolling comment.......But have you ever noticed how you disagree with almost everyone here, almost all the time?

Has it ever occurred to you, it might be you, and not everyone else?

I'm sincerely wondering.

You so often take positions that are contrary to accepted norms..............and seem genuinely confused as to why everyone else looks at you askance.

*****

For the record, public input into public policy should be expected in respect of all major public policy decisions and expenditures, excepting a true emergency when there is no time for such a nicety.
Whether or not this has always been the case is moot. It's a public asset. Not the government's toy.

I don't expect to be consulted on the trivial (what colour shall the new carpet be in Macdonald Block offices?) but in major matters, yes.

Every hospital project is subject to consultation, every transit project, why should Ontario Place be any different?
Click to expand...

Brownie points for using the word, "askance".

That is all.
 
Towered said:
Is this a serious comment? You clearly seem unaware of what the place was in its heyday.
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I am very aware of what it was but we can't look to the past and expect what gets built today is going to be like it. Things come with a cost gone are the free concerts at the ampthaterare, gone are the days where you can have a playground like they used to have. Unfortunately no matter what the public or people on this board say Ontario place isn't going to be like the Ontario place people remember from their childhood.
 
EastYorkTTCFan said:
Yes I get that I have a different view of people on here that's the point of a public forum for people to share different views and opinions.

I just don't really get what people actually want to be consulted on for Ontario place. I worked there a few years ago when there wasn't much other than a few attractions in one of the restaurants.

From what I read about it it looks like one of the companies runs waterparks and I think that is something that would make sense in Toronto as the nearest ones are outside of the city and not easy for people who don't have a car to get to.
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The restaurants should change over the years. Either disappearing, improving, or replaced over time. Here's an example, from Disneyland...
 
W. K. Lis said:
The restaurants should change over the years. Either disappearing, improving, or replaced over time. Here's an example, from Disneyland...
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And they did. When I worked their in the early 2000's they were at one point owned by the same company that owned Swiss chalet, the one on the water by the Marina was called the rost and had Swiss chalets menu, the other one was called Sails fish and fry and had a smaller menu with Chicken fingers, fish and chips and stuff like that. The next time I was back only one of the restaurants was being used the one by the marina and that was run by JJ mugs as the Marina grill, sails was used to hold supplies for catering as well as a storage for empty beer cans and kegs.
 
Torontovibe said:
... The Forum was also torn down and concerts went from being free to ticketed events at the Molson Amphitheatre...
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The concerts at the Forum were free?!
I guess it's too late now for me to complain about those scammers at TicketMaster who got me to pay for tickets to free shows.
Forum_tickets.JPG
 
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