Archinect - News

Legal challenge to block Toronto's controversial Ontario Place redevelopment fails in court

2024-06-24T17:06:00-04:00

The Art Newspaper is reporting on the failure of a legal challenge that would have blocked Toronto’s controversial plans to realize a massive spa complex on the site of Ontario Place after the provincial Superior Court of Justice’s June 11th decision.

The project is contentious on both heritage and environmental grounds and has likewise drawn ire from its reported costs north of $650 million CAD ($476 million USD) to taxpayers. Therme, the company behind the plan, had previously signed a 95-year lease with the city government.

The removal of Raymond Moriyama's Ontario Science Centre, which is at the heart of the issue, is also stirring debate after it closed abruptly last week over fears of collapse stemming from the flawed RAAC concrete materials used in its roof. All this is "based on a faulty business case" says a closer analysis from Elsa Lam.

Toronto’s proposed Ontario Place redevelopment is getting even more contentious

2023-01-10T14:43:00-05:00

New details are emerging in the controversial plan to redevelop Toronto’s mostly decommissioned Ontario Place after the exclusive Toronto International Film Festival unveiled further plans for a partnership with Therme Group, the Austrian entity behind the proposed $350 million project.

Local website blogTO has more details on the community’s negative response to the partnership, which will “promote the role of art and film in creating more human cities” through a series of talks spread over a ten-year period.

The online responses are only the latest thorn in the side of the provincial Ontario government and Premier Doug Ford following last summer’s harsh responses that eventually yielded a revised plan which reclassified a mere 12-acre segment of beachfront property for public use while retaining the original plan to have more than one-third of the site be developed privately.

Previously on Archinect: Toronto reveals still-contentious revised plan for proposed Ontario Place redev...

Torontonians aren't happy with the city's planned Ontario Place overhaul

2022-08-30T17:46:00-04:00

Toronto residents are expressing their concerns over the Diamond Schmitt-designed plan for a massive new aquatic theme park at Ontario Place they say is “tone-deaf” and exclusionary of their basic needs.

Spurred on by the recent release of updated renderings and other details of Therme Group's second North American project, opponents say the city's Waterfront Toronto Design Review Panel needs to consider a full-tilt reassessment of the scheme on the basis of accessibility, environmental impact, and a distressing lack of free public amenities.

“This seems like another plan to take away space, livable space that we are already so short on demand of down here,” a concerned area resident recently told the CBC.

The proposed Therme Toronto development. Image courtesy of Therme.

The new development is scheduled to stand on the site of a 155-acre public park and entertainment venue from renowned local architects Michael Hough and Eberhard Zeigler that has sat mostly abandoned since closing i...

Toronto's Eaton Centre to undergo $77 million revitalization led by Zeidler Architecture

2022-01-21T12:55:00-05:00

Canadian commercial real estate company Cadillac Fairview (CF) has announced a $77 million revitalization of the CF Toronto Eaton Centre.

The project will see a $60 million refurbishment of its iconic galleria skylight roof. According to CF’s announcement: “The existing glass will be replaced with the latest materials and technologies to improve energy efficiency while maintaining its classic design aesthetic.”

News of this endeavor came just days after the passing of famed Canadian architect and the shopping center’s designer, Eberhard Zeidler. The refurbishment will be led by eponymous firm Zeidler Architecture Inc. and Read Jones Christoffersen consulting engineers, with construction overseen by EllisDon Corporation. The project will be carried out in two phases, starting with the south end of the mall in mid-January 2022, followed by work on the north end beginning in March 2023.

“As the original architects of the galleria, we’re honored to play a continuing role in one of the...