There is more controversy surrounding the parking lot development at the redeveloped Ontario Place — it turns out the price tag of parking for the development might be a lot higher than expected. Last week, Premiere Doug Ford — to the outrage of many on social media — brought up the idea of an above-ground lot near the development when asked if he was rethinking the underground lot. This is given the recent massive flooding of Lake Shore Boulevard as well as the costs associated with building underground.
“We’d like to build as much on top without prohibiting the view,” he said at a press conference last week. “Stay tuned on the parking lot. We’re working with the city as well — maybe we’ll put it on the other side.”
About 2,700 parking spots are needed to support the three tenants of the redeveloped Ontario Place (Therme Canada, Live Nation and the Ontario Science Centre). The existing parking lot can host 700 vehicles, and last year, the Ministry of Infrastructure obtained “a high-level preliminary estimate” of $307 million to build the remaining 2,000 spots, according to the 2023 project proposal submitted to government officials.
The proposal further noted that if the parking structure were to be built as a standalone structure, there was a risk that future development opportunities above the parking structure could be limited. The province then agreed with the City of Toronto to explore relocating the parking structure to the grounds of Exhibition Place to improve public access to the shoreline.
But according to a report from the Toronto Star last Friday, Darrell Brown, CEO of the Canadian National Exhibition Association (CNEA), said that a senior Infrastructure Ontario official told him that — regarding the prospect of the garage being built at Exhibition Place rather than Ontario Place —“it’s terribly expensive to build underground parking” and that the provincial government doesn’t have the money for it (the official cited the recent rise in construction costs as an example).
The officials also suggested that a previous estimate of $125,000 per underground stall has doubled, noting that $800 million could be the possible final price tag of parking.
The official asked Brown if the CNEA could help with financing and Brown responded that his organization isn’t in a position to do so.
A media spokesperson for Infrastructure Ontario would not confirm whether the suggested $800 million cost is accurate when Streets of Toronto reached out for comment, noting that, “No decisions have been made about the parking structure at this time as discussions are still at an early stage.”
Ford’s government proposed a multi-level underground parking structure with 2,100 spaces and a surface parking lot with 630 spaces, as detailed in a city status report from last year March. In November, as part of a new deal with the City of Toronto, the provincial government agreed to look at the option of relocating the parking garage to the nearby exhibition grounds.
The potential $800 million cost has many on social media suggesting that since the potential parking options are so expensive, then perhaps the redevelopment is at the wrong site.
If the potential parking options are this bad and this expensive, surely this is the wrong site for the MegaSpa! The province can still make a different choice. https://t.co/8Uj3vh95dL
— Ontario Place for All © (@ONPlace4All) July 26, 2024
Controversy has been tailing the Ford government over the redevelopment of Ontario Place for months. Last spring, the Ford government faced a slew of criticism after it was announced that the province committed to a 95-year lease with Therme Canada for a 65,000-square-metre, seven-storey indoor private “wellness facility” (spa) and water park on the Ontario Place grounds, to be built and operated by the Canadian branch of the Austrian-based Therme Group.
