What's happening with Ontario Place's taxpayer-funded parking garage? City staff say they're in the dark
City of Toronto officials are awaiting the Ford government's decision on a
massive taxpayer-funded parking lot for Therme spa customers
after talks about building it at city-owned Exhibition Place paused last autumn.
The possible location and cost of the garage, with
at least 1,600 spots for Therme's privately owned spa resort and water park
to be erected at neighbouring
Ontario Place
, has been one of many controversial aspects of the province's waterfront redevelopment plan.
Premier Doug Ford's government originally envisioned a multi-level underground lot on Ontario Place grounds, which will also host an expanded Budweiser Stage concert venue and relocated Ontario Science Centre. Amid alarm over the cost of building underground on lake-surrounded landfill, however, provincial officials started talking to city staff about building the parkade — above or below ground — at city-owned Exhibition Place.
Toronto city council heard Thursday that city staff are not clear on the province's parking lot intentions but expect to know some time in 2025.
A 'technical table' of provincial and city representatives met a number of times in 2024, most recently last fall, and now 'the province is doing due diligence on its options and a decision is expected some time later this year,' David Stonehouse, directory of the city's waterfront secretariat, told city council on Thursday.
Coun. Parthi Kandavel said some of his Scarborough Southwest constituents want to know if the city can say yes or no to a parking lot at Exhibition Place.
Stonehouse replied: 'Any decision to utilize land at Exhibition Place for parking would be a council decision and the subject of a future city council report.'
Infrastructure Minister Kinga Surma's office had not replied, at publication time, to the Star's inquiries about Ontario Place initiatives, including the parking garage.
A report to councillors outlining the province's Ontario Place moves so far, however, illustrates that it can and will overrule Toronto to move the revamp forward, with sweeping powers granted through a ministerial zoning order and the Rebuilding Ontario Place Act of 2023.
For example, when city hall delayed approval of transfer of 16 acres of city land at Ontario Place — six on land, 10 on water — Queen's Park simply transferred ownership from the city to the province. The legislation requires the province to pay the city 'fair market compensation,' the report says, with the city expecting to learn what it will get later this year.
Even with construction underway at the waterfront site, the location, size, cost and form of the parking garage remain undecided.
Even with construction underway at the waterfront site, the location, size, cost and form of the parking garage remain undecided.
Toronto often negotiates public benefits, such as parkland, with developers seeking approvals for large redevelopment projects within city borders.
The Ford government, however, withdrew the city's ability to conduct a Planning Act application review of provincially owned Ontario Place. No review means the city has no mechanism to negotiate public benefits.
The Rebuilding Ontario Place Act states that city and provincial officials should negotiate provincial use of municipal services and right-of-way access during redevelopment — but if they fail to reach agreement, Ontario's infrastructure minister may order the city to provide services and access on the minister's terms.
However, Infrastructure Ontario has said that it will put redevelopment plans through the city of Toronto building permit process.
Provincial dictates are not the only factor limiting Toronto's say over the Ontario Place revamp. As part of a 2023 'new deal' between Toronto and the province, rescuing the city's pandemic-ravaged finances, Mayor Olivia Chow and city council agreed to not fight Ford's Ontario Place vision.
A
provincial auditor general's report released last December
pegged the parking garage's expected cost at $280 million for a four-level, above-ground parking structure at Exhibition Place, or more than $400 million for three levels above ground at Exhibition Place and one level below the Science Centre at Ontario Place.
The auditor general said the process that led to the Ford government awarding Austria-based Therme a 95-year lease on the West Island site was not fair or transparent.
Undeterred by critics, Ford said last month that 'we're moving forward on this, and we're going to go as quickly as possible.'
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