WHY WE ARE FIGHTING TO KEEP ONTARIO SCIENCE CENTRE AT ITS PRESENT LOCATION IN FLEMINGDON PARK:
The Ontario Science Centre was a gift to the people of Ontario on the occasion of Canada’s centennial. Premier John Robarts chose to build the new museum outside the city core, in an area sometimes referred to as the “geographic centre of Toronto”.
Architect Ray Moriyama designed a remarkable building embraced by visitors for over 50 years. Working with Chief Designer Taizo Miake, instead of a traditional museum building filled with objects they created one of the world’s first interactive science centres. The original vision:
“ The centre must be a place for everyone – not cater to 12 specialists and ignore 12,000 others. It must initially give a sense of self-possession, It must arouse curiosity. It must lead to understanding , not just knowledge. It must be a place of wonder. It must give immeasurable qualities of comfort and joy and discovery with others. It must inspire the visitor with ideas through active participation. It must be an emotional experience, with intellectual satisfaction and it must be fun”.
Since the Centre opened in 1969 it has fulfilled that vision! It has:
- Welcomed more than 52 million visitors
- Sparked the imaginations of more than 9 million students
- Created world-renowned exhibits, experiences and travelling shows with a unique team of science researchers, writers, designers, wood and metal workers, electricians and digital media experts in its onsite workshops
- Won international awards and museum clients around the world through its internal entrepreneurial branch
- Together with the Exploratorium in San Francisco inspired a global science museum movement with over 3,000 science centres globally
Ongoing success:
| Visitors | 900,000+ annually |
| 650,000 local visitors (GTA) | |
| 183,000 tourists | |
| 56,980 loyal members in nearly 15,000 Member Households | |
| Students | 170,000 children through annual school field trips |
| On-site Science School for Grade 12 students | |
| Award-winning school programs linked to the science and math curriculum and on relevant topics like Career Planning and Mental Health & Wellness | |
| Visitor Satisfaction | 95% said their expectations were met or exceeded |
| 95% would recommend the Science Centre Experience |
The big challenge:
Built in 1969 to last a projected 250 years, the Centre’s building requires ongoing upkeep of its infrastructure. But investment from successive provincial governments has not kept up.
The 10-year deferred maintenance needs of OSC in 2019 were $147.5 million. The cost of fixing the bridge between buildings A and B had not yet been identified and is not included in the deferred maintenance calculation.
Despite very real financial challenges, renovation of the current building is both more environmentally and socially responsible and considerably cheaper than building the proposed new, smaller facility at Ontario Place.
While the Premier has said that the move to Ontario Place will increase attendance, the public has yet to see any documentation for this. For the new Centre to attract higher tourist traffic, it requires unique offerings unavailable in the hometown science centres of potential tourists (most sizeable North American cities have science centres of their own).
Science North in Sudbury, for example, offers tours of a decommissioned nickel mine. Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry has a captured and restored German U-boat submarine. The California Science Centre has one of the remaining space shuttles. In the plan for the new Science Centre, the region’s only public planetarium, immersive rainforest and free outdoor science activities have been cut from the RFP and designated part of an optional “Science Centre Plus” (a curious piece of wording since it’s clear this is “Science Centre Minus” compared to the current Centre). Without unique experiences – things they cannot experience in their “local” science centre – it is unlikely tourists will be drawn to the new OSC.
The planned 200,000 square foot building – less than half the size of the current facility – cannot meet the needs of its core southern Ontario audience, let alone tourists who visit from elsewhere. (For comparison, in 2011 the Spark Science Centre in Calgary opened at a cost of $160 million, offered 153,000 square feet and served a regional audience of 1.5 million people.) The ‘new’ smaller Ontario Science Centre will not adequately serve a growing region of more than 6 million.
The Ontario Science Centre is unique among cultural attractions globally, being located in the heart of a growing, youthful, and diverse community. The resulting relationship has strengthened both the Centre and the communities of Flemingdon Park and Thorncliffe Park. These communities deserve better. In its new location, the Centre will be a kilometer or more from any community.
The government is planning to destroy one of the world’s best science museums and an Ontario icon. If you google “Top Ten science museums in the world”, the OSC will appear in this list.
Does the current Ontario Science Centre need updating/ a cash infusion? Yes, without question. The organization is still working to recover from being closed for twenty months due to the pandemic and has had to use programming and marketing dollars to address critical maintenance issues ignored by the building owner (the Province).
About Us
Save Ontario’s Science Centre is a grassroots group dedicated to keeping the Science Centre open in Flemingdon Park and Thorncliffe Park for all Ontarians to enjoy.
SAVE ONTARIO'S SCIENCE CENTRE 