City councillor asks Toronto to take over Ontario Science Centre

A Toronto councilloris asking the city to take over running the Ontario Science Centre, in a bid to keep it at its current location after the province abruptly closed its doorslast week over safety concerns about the building's roof.

Coun. Josh Matlow, who represents Ward 12Toronto-St. Paul's, says he's put forward a motionthat would require city staff toconduct an "objective analysis" to see if it's feasible for Toronto to take over running the centre. Council will consider the motion at its meeting on Wednesday.

"My motion looks at: can we continue offering programming and having a building there that continues serving the publicin the community?" he said in an interview on CBC Radio's Metro Morning on Monday.

Matlow's effortcomes as the province is facing an outcryfrommembers of the public and officials since it decided to close the science centre,located at Eglinton Avenue East and Don Mills Road, on Friday afternoon.

The province already had plans to move the centre to Ontario Place as part of a redevelopment of the waterfront property, but Friday's closure came earlier than expected and without warning.

Province 'determined' to let building fall apart: Matlow

As fences were being placed around the property Friday, the Ministry of Infrastructure announced it was closing the centre indefinitely to protect the health and safety of visitors and staff after anengineering report found structural issues with some of the building's roof panels.

The report from engineering firmRimkus Consulting Group said some of the panels would require replacement or reinforcementby Oct. 31, 2024,to avoid a potential collapse undera significant buildup of snow, but it stopped short of recommending a closure of the building.

Fixing the roof would cost between $22 million and $40 million, the ministry said, and require the centre be closed for up to two years.

WATCH | Closure of science centre comes before move to Ontario Place:

Ontario Science Centre shutting down due to roof collapse risk

3 months ago

Duration 2:45

The province is shutting down the Ontario Science Centre immediately due to the risk that the 55-year-old building's roof could collapse. As CBC's Lorenda Reddekopp reports, the emergency closure comes after the Ford government's controversial announcement to move the centre to Ontario Place.

But the roof isn't the only part of the building that requires fixing.

A business casepublished last year by the provincefound it requiredhundreds of millions of dollars in maintenance workon the walls and in its mechanical, electrical and elevator systems.

Matlowsaid Doug Ford's government seems "absolutely determined" to see the building fall apart.

"Not only is there no transparency, there doesn't seem a willingness to look at how to fix the building," he said.

The property is owned by the City of Toronto and its conservation authority and is leased to the science centre. A recent deal between the city and province included an agreement to discuss future uses for the site, including some science-based programming, but no decisions have been made.

'The result the Ford government wanted': professor

The closure comes just a week before schools are out for the summer and before summer camps are set to begin in July.

Sandford Borins, a professor emeritus of public management at the University of Toronto Scarborough, says the province could have saved the centre.

"If you had a government that wanted to keep the science centre open, it would have been in touch with [engineering firm] very quickly, asked them what needed to be done before winter, and would have started on the work long before the report was completed," he said.

"The result wasn't inevitable. This was the result the Ford government wanted," he said.

WATCH | Province defends closure of science centre:

Ford government defends Ontario Science Centre closure

3 months ago

Duration 2:25

Ontario's Infrastructure Minister Kinga Surma defended on Monday the province's decision to abruptly close the Ontario Science Centre last week. Surma says the centre's board of directors decided to close the building shortly after the province reviewed an engineering report that identified issues with a number of roof panels. As CBCs Lorenda Reddekopp reports, the opposition is questioning whether the closure was necessary.

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow said Saturday the city will do what it can to help those affected by the closure.

"The City of Toronto will do everything we can to assist so that kids will have a chance to be wondered by science," Chow said.

"The City of Toronto will look for spaces. We'll co-operate with the workers, the board and the Ontario government to see what we can do to assist."

Province says safety is priority

In a news conference Friday, officials from the infrastructure ministry and Infrastructure Ontario said the science centre will be moved to an interim location yet to be determined, before its final move to Ontario Place.

The science centre building at Ontario Place, next to a planned private spa built by Austrian company Therme, won't open until 2028.

The province has said it is making every effort to avoid disruption to science centre programming.

It also said it's confident that moving the science centre will save taxpayers money.

Infrastructure Ontario is issuing a request for proposals on Monday to try to find a temporary science centre location until the new one at Ontario Place opens. The science centre is also looking at providing mobile, virtual and pop-up offerings.

WATCH | Advocacy group questions timing of sudden closure:

Group opposed to Ontario Science Centre closure questions timing of move

4 months ago

Duration 0:55

Floyd Ruskin, co-chair of Save Ontarios Science Centre, says there are many questions about the province's timing shutting down the Ontario Science Centre including the decision to release the information on a Friday afternoon.

Infrastructure Minister Kinga Surma said at a news conference Monday that the engineering firm was clear the roof would need to be replaced over a period of two to five years.

"There's lots of structural issues with the building. It was my hope that we could keep the building alive until the new science centre was built, but unfortunately we have to take the warning signs of engineers very seriously," she said.

"I am not going to risk the safety of workers and children."

Surma said the centreneededto be closed over the summer to "decommission" the building and move out all the exhibits.