Liberals set 2017 goal for revitalized Ontario Place

Ontario's Liberalcabinet has endorsed all18 recommendations ofJohn Tory'sspecial panel struck tostudy the future of Ontario Place, Tourism Minister Michael Chan saidon Wednesday.

Performing "due diligence" andan assessment of the sitewill begin right away and cost about $5.5 million, he told assembled media at Queen's Park.

The goal would be to have the new sitecompleted by 2017 in time for Canada's 150th birthday.

The old Ontario Place site was an amusement park for 41 years before the cash-strapped Liberals decided to shut it down.

Theparty thenappointed a panel led by John Tory, the former leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservatives, to find ways to breathe new life into the site.

The site should provide an opportunity for people to live, work and play in year-round without having to pay for admission, Tory said then. Chansaid the government would followthat approach, but said it was too early to get into details.

Tory's group's recommendations, released in late July, called for large portions ofthe now-shuttered amusement park to be converted to parkland, withprivate residences, a hotel and a resort complex all pushed as possibilities. The report said the site should be free, open year-round, and protect sightlines to the water.

"We see Ontario Place as a new public backyard for all Ontarians,"Tory said at the time.

The panel also ruled out the possibility of a casino at the site. Chan said the government agrees with that as well.

"Let me say it again: No casino,"Chan said.