Ontario Place

Ontario Place is an agency of the Government of the Canadian province of Ontario, an entertainment attraction, located approximately 4 km west of downtown Toronto on the shore of Lake Ontario, just south of Exhibition Place. Built in 1971, it consists of three beautifully landscaped man-made islands. Buildings and attractions were built on these islands making it the world-renowned park it is today. The park is targeted at a family audience with emphasis on children's activities. Central to the complex is a public marina and a major concert theatre.

The park has a seasonal operating schedule and is closed from October through April, with the exception of the Cinesphere IMAX theatre.

History

Even as far back as the 1960s, Toronto was concerned about its waterfront. It had suffered through more than a century of intense industrialization which cut the city off from the lakefront. By the late 1960s, half a century of automobile-centric lakeside planning had made the Toronto waterfront an unappealing, heavily industrialized location, despite its obvious potential.

Ontario Place was conceived to help to revitalize the waterfront, attract tourists to Toronto, and in part, appease the City, which was frustrated at the high level of government investment that flowed to rival Montreal for Expo 67.

The park itself was originally conceived as an onshore exhibit, but this idea was discarded in favour of five large, architecturally unique, three-level Pods. Each Pod would be approximately 8,000 square feet (743 m²) in area, and suspended by steel cables from four large central pylons driven deep into the lake bed. These Pods would initially house various Ontario-themed exhibits in an aquatic setting somewhat similar in concept to Montreal's Expo 67 grounds (which were in the middle of the St. Lawrence River).

However, a difficult but unexpectedly useful problem developed. The cost of the open-water Pod foundations alone (at the time, estimated at dollar|C$" target="_blank" >^*9 million) would consume almost the entire budget for the Pods' construction. Architect Eb Zeidler was faced with a dilemma: how to construct the Pods without the necessary budget.

Zeidler developed an innovative solution: after a trip to the Caribbean, he realized that a "barrier reef" concept would cut down on wave action from the lake enough to reduce the cost of the Pods' foundation to 1/10th of the original open-water estimate. After some quarrels with the port authorities (due to the dangers of the unseen reef to shipping), the reef plan was modified to incorporate three artificial "barrier islands" made from city landfill.

The Forum, an outdoor concert venue, was featured on a central hub-island, while a children's village would occupy an eastern island. A commercial section overlooked the water, with modular construction for shops and restaurants to the west. All would be connected by an intricately planned set of walkways and bridges. In addition, each island would have a unique colour scheme, and the entire complex was later infused with the brilliant colours and graphic design that were typical of the late 1960s and early 1970s.

The sophistication of the original barrier island layout should be noted. Architect Michael Hough overlaid a scale model of the University of Toronto's excellent walking paths onto the Ontario Place plans to check for appropriate walking distances. This ensured that comfortable rest areas were placed appropriately, so that children and the elderly would not need to walk too far without a comfortable seat (or access to candy!). Soon after opening in 1971, a rubber-wheeled tractor train was used to take visitors between key points on the various islands, though this has long since been discontinued.

Prevailing wind and wave conditions were also considered in the design, a scale model of which was tested the University of Toronto's wind tunnel. Large earthwork berms planted with tall native Ontario trees were created to shelter walkways from the prevailing southwesterly winds.

To the south, a cost-effective and theme-congruent plan to sink three large obsolete shipping vessels was implemented, which sheltered the artificial harbour from intense open-lake waves. (The same technique would later be used on Toronto Island and the Outer Harbour.)

There was originally some controversy about allowing a public facility to house an upscale boating dock within the new artificial harbour. However, supporters of the plan believed that the dock's integration into Ontario Place would tie the location closer to the lake via boating activity, and improve the general ambiance.

The original park has been altered since its inception. The popular outdoor concert stage, The Forum, was torn down in the mid-1990s and replaced with the Molson Amphitheatre.

Facts and figures

Construction start date: March 17, 1969
Opening day: May 22, 1971
Total cost: $29,000,000 (Canadian funds, not adjusted for inflation)
Initial park size: 360,000 m² (96 acres), 206,000 m² (51 acres) created by landfill
First-year admission price: $1.00 Adults, $0.50 for Children
Seating: The Forum: 8,000, Molson Amphitheatre: 16,000

Current attractions

Ontario Place has rides and attractions, including the world's first permanent IMAX movie theatre: the Cinesphere.

The Cinesphere is a geodesic dome-shaped structure which contains the theatre. It is similar in style to 'Spaceship Earth' at EPCOT in Orlando Florida, except the latter is a complete sphere.

The Molson Amphitheatre is a large open-air venue for larger-scale music concerts. Major acts like R.E.M., Dave Matthews Band, Blue Rodeo, and the Tragically Hip have all been featured in summer concerts at the site. Bryan Adams opened the facility in May 1995.

East Island - Market Square

Whiz Kids - Kids car ride
Cyclone Speedway
Mini Bumper Boats
First Flight
Free Fall
Mini Greens
Super Slide
Treehouse Live Stage (Formally Festival Stage)

East Island - Soak City

Water park with various slides and pools
- Waterplay
- Purple Pipeline
- Pink Twister
- Hydrofuge
- Rush River

Centre Island - Marina Village

Cinesphere
Atlantis - Restaurant/Club
OP Driving School
Bumper Boats
Cool Hoops
Marina with Lake Ontario access

West Island - GO Zone

Bob's Boat Yard (Peddle Boats)
H20 Generation Station - The largest outdoor climbing structure in Canada
Atom Blaster
Waterfall Stage
Microkids

West Island - Adventure Island

Wilderness Adventure Ride - Log ride
MegaMaze
Mars
Gemstone Mining

Former attractions and venues

Attractions:

The HMCS Haida (G63) is a decommissioned WWII destroyer that was open to the public. In the early 1960's, the ship was going to be scrapped, but volunteers raised enough money to have it saved and towed to Toronto. It opened as an attraction in August of 1965 at the pier on York Street. The city had planned to build a 'Serviceman's Memorial Park' near Princess' Gates at Exhibition Place. When the organization 'Haida Inc.' ran into financial problems, the ship was taken over by the Province of Ontario and moved in 1970 to the Ontario Place site, where it was turned into an attraction. It was also used as a Sea Cadet training camp. In 2002 it was bought by Parks Canada and taken to a new home in Hamilton, Ontario for some much needed restoration and incorporated into a new marine museum in that city.

The Forum was an outdoor concert venue that was an architectural landmark torn down to make way for the Molson Amphitheatre: it featured covered seating under a unique tent-like, metal framed, solid roof, with extra seating on the open surrounding, grassy hills. While having only half the seating capacity of the current Ampitheatre, it had (arguably) better sound, bench seating, and offered a far more intimate theatre-in-the-round experience; featuring a rotating stage which gave every seat in the house, in turn, an excellent view. It also had the benefit of being generally free with park admission. Featured events included an annual Toronto Symphony rendition of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, complete with the firing of the guns from the nearby HMCS Haida, and often performances by well established acts, such as BB King, Pat Metheny and Canadian Bruce Cockburn. Unfortunately, due to a riot by Teenage Head fans in 1981 (purportedly instigated by their manager, who allegedly was interested in the publicity) rock acts where thereafter banned from the venue. However, perhaps the greatest loss with the passing of The Forum, is a sense of an integrated experience with the rest of Ontario Place; since it was centrally located to function as a kind of musical pass-through walking hub for the rest of the facility and the concert was usually included as part of the inexpensive admission.

Location and access

Ontario Place has vehicle access to Lakeshore Boulevard and the Gardiner Expressway. It is adjacent to the south of Exhibition Place where connections to TTC and GO Transit services are provided.

External links

Ontario Place homepage