Tag Archives: waterfront

Ontario Place: Tarnished waterfront jewel needs ‘wow-factor’ attractions to restore its lost lustre

Ontario Place

Looking toward two of the suspended pavilions at Ontario Place  on September 4 2010, the last time I paid a visit to the aging waterfront theme park

 

Park over troubled waters: It struck me as a curious coincidence that stormclouds figure prominently in many of the photos I have taken of Ontario Place. After all, these are very dark and stormy times for the summertime waterfront theme park, most of which will be closed for the next five years while the Ontario government considers options for revitalizing the tired and tacky 41-year-old facility.

At the beginning of this month, the province announced that it has shuttered Ontario Place’s money-losing Cinesphere, water park and amusement rides while former politician/current  radio personality John Tory leads a team charged with investigating options for restoring the lustre to a waterfront jewel that initially drew more than 2.5 million visitors each season, but has since struggled to attract even just one-fifth that many funseekers in recent summers. In fact, the province has been losing more than $20 million annually on subsidies it provides to keep the tired and dowdy-looking park operating. Just the privately-operated Molson Amphitheatre, the Atlantis restaurant, bar and ballroom pavilions, the marina and the parking lots, the only facilities that apparently were profitable, will remain open. More than 48 full-time jobs and 600 summer positions will be lost as a result of the closure.

 

 

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

Construction of underground parking facility will create new public spaces for Harbourfront Centre

artistic illustration of the new Harbourfront Centre

From the Centre’s website, this artistic illustration suggests how the revitalized Harbourfront Centre will look with new public parks and amenities on the space formerly occupied by a large above-ground parking lot

 

Harbourfront Centre construction

April 21 2011: Excavation of the existing above-ground parking lot is underway to build a new below-ground parking facility


Site transformation: You can’t walk very far in downtown Toronto without encountering a “revitalization” project of some kind. Whether it’s public spaces like Nathan Phillips Square or the “mink mile” on Bloor Street, retail complexes like the Toronto Eaton Centre, transportation facilities like the Union subway station, or office towers like First Canadian Place, massive renovation and reconstruction projects are either underway, close to completion, or just getting started. Harbourfront Centre is no exception. The 10-acre cultural landmark is getting a major makeover that will create significant new public spaces at one of the city’s most popular waterfront attractions. The most visible work at the moment is excavation of the Centre’s large above-ground parking lot, which will be rebuilt — underground. That move will free up a tremendous amount of space to create new park and public amenity areas around the Harbourfront Centre facilities, which draw more than 12 million visitors annually. Although the parking lot is now a large, closed-off construction zone, it’s business as usual at the various Harbourfront Centre buildings, including Queen’s Quay Terminal, York Quay Centre, The Power Plant and the Enwave Theatre. Completion of the new underground parking lot is scheduled for next spring. Below are some recent photos of the revitalization activity underway at Harbourfront Centre.

Harbourfront Centre construction area

November 9 2011: The former parking lot for Harbourfront Centre has been cordoned off with fencing and hoarding as the revitalization project gets underway

 

Harbourfront Centre construction hoarding

November 9 2011: Construction hoarding around the former parking site

 

Harbourfront Centre billboard

A billboard on hoarding around the Harbourfront Centre construction site

 

Harbourfront Centre construction

Another billboard at the Harbourfront Centre construction site

 

Harbourfront Centre billboard

A diagram showing how the Harbourfront Centre site will be transformed

 

Harbourfront Centre construction site

April 21 2011: Construction site hoarding along Queens Quay Boulevard

 

Harbourfront Centre construction site

April 21 2011: Construction site hoarding along Queens Quay Boulevard

 

Harbourfront Centre construction site

April 21 2011: Looking from Queen’s Quay Boulevard toward excavation activity at the northeast corner of the site

 

Harbourfront Centre construction site

April 21 2011: Excavation activity at the northeast corner of the property

 

Harbourfront Centre construction site

April 21 2011: Excavation activity along the eastern perimeter of the property, next to the Queen’s Quay Terminal building

 

Harbourfront Centre construction site

April 21 2011: Construction of the new underground parking facility is expected to finish at around this time in 2012

 

Harbourfront Centre construction site

May 8 2011: Looking northwest at the Harbourfront Centre construction site from the driveway next to the Queen’s Quay Terminal building

 

Harbourfront Centre amphitheatre

May 8 2011: Landscape reconstruction activity north of the lakeside amphitheatre

 

Landscape reconstruction outside the amphitheatre

May 8 2011: Another view of landscaping activity behind the amphitheatre