Province seeks much smaller space for temporary Ontario Science Center

Government officials announced midday Friday that science center would permanently close its east Toronto premises by the end of the day after the province received a technical report on the condition of the roof.

The government was already planning to move the science center to the Ontario Place waterfront attraction, but it’s not expected to open until 2028, so officials said they would look for temporary space to house a part of the programming and exhibitions in the meantime.

Infrastructure Ontario has now released its call for proposals for retail or commercial space to accommodate a temporary Ontario Science Centre, and is seeking approximately 50,000 to 100,000 square feet, much smaller than the 568,000 square feet of the original building.

Opponents of the science center move were already criticizing the fact that the new Ontario Place building would have to be half the size of the original building.

The government said the Ontario Place science center would have more exhibition space than the original building through more efficient use of space, but an auditor general’s report said that there would actually be 18 percent less.