Latest news with #ThermeCanada
Cision Canada
05-05-2025
- Business
- Cision Canada
Waterfront Advocate Adam Vaughan Joins Therme Canada
Appointment underscores Therme Canada's commitment to reconnecting people to the waterfront through a revitalized Ontario Place TORONTO, May 5, 2025 /CNW/ - Therme Canada's project delivery team continues to grow with the appointment of Adam Vaughan as Senior Advisor. A widely known public policy figure, Adam brings decades of experience in public service and a lifelong dedication to the city's waterfront. "We're pleased to welcome Adam Vaughan to Therme Canada," said Gavin Thompson, Vice-President, Corporate Affairs for Therme Canada. "Adam's leadership experience and strong connection to Toronto's waterfront makes him an ideal addition to our growing team focused on executing against our vision of transforming the West Island of Ontario Place into a year-round destination for fun, wellbeing, and togetherness." Vaughan joins the team delivering Therme Canada | Ontario Place, a first-of-its-kind wellbeing destination coming to Toronto's waterfront. The project will offer a transformative year-round wellbeing experience for people of all ages and includes nearly 16 acres of public waterfront parkland. "I grew up loving Lake Ontario and have spent most of my life working to help create a clean green waterfront for people to live, work, and play," said Adam Vaughan, Senior Advisor, Therme Canada. "The Ontario Place we remember used to be such a dynamic attraction, I'm excited about Therme's vision for the site and I'm looking forward to bringing new parkland, places to swim, and an amazing accessible urban oasis to the city that's open to all." Vaughan served as Member of Parliament for Trinity-Spadina and Spadina–Fort York, from 2014 to 2021, where he was Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and to the Ministers responsible for Families, Children, and Social Development. He helped lead the development of Canada's first National Housing Strategy and championed the Right to Housing in legislation. Prior to federal politics, Vaughan served two terms on Toronto City Council, where he focussed on planning and housing policy. Prior to that Adam spent 25 years as a political reporter with CBC, Citytv, and CP24. Vaughan is also a published author and cartoonist and has taught and lectured at the University of Toronto's School for Cities. While on City Council he served on the Planning and Growth Committee, the Police Services Board, and as the City's representative on the Board of the Art Gallery of Ontario, Harbourfront Centre, and Artscape. About Therme Group Therme Group is a global owner, operator, and developer, shaping the future of wellbeing through a new type of social infrastructure called 'Therme.' Designed to enhance physical, social, and mental health, these spaces and wellbeing destinations help communities reconnect with nature, themselves, and each other. Guided by the belief that wellbeing should be accessible to all, Therme Group creates inclusive, scalable solutions to meet the growing demand for urban wellbeing. Current locations, including Therme Bucharest—the world's first LEED Platinum-certified wellbeing infrastructure—and the newly acquired Therme Erding, the world's largest wellbeing destination, welcome millions of visitors each year, with developments underway in cities such as Manchester, Toronto, Frankfurt, Dallas and Washington, D.C.
CBC
05-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
Adam Vaughan joins Ontario Place spa developer Therme
Former city councillor and ex-MP Adam Vaughan, long one of the sharpest critics of Doug Ford's plans for Toronto's waterfront, is now working for Therme Canada, the company developing a luxury spa at Ontario Place. In an interview with CBC News, Vaughan revealed that he has been hired as a senior adviser to Therme, the Austrian company granted a 95-year lease to build a destination spa and indoor water park on the west island of Ontario Place, the provincially-owned site on the city's lakeshore. Vaughan describes his job with Therme as "speaking to the public about what an incredible project this is" and heaped praise on Ontario's premier for the overall vision. "I'd be the first person to criticize Doug Ford if I thought he was doing a bad thing in Toronto," Vaughan told CBC News. "This is a good project and I'm totally wholeheartedly in support of it. When new facts, new ideas, and more importantly, great ideas appear on the waterfront, I'll be the first to champion them every single time." As recently as 2019, when he was still the Liberal MP for Trinity-Spadina, Vaughan made a statement in the House of Commons criticizing the plans Ford was floating for Ontario Place, and said the provincial government had "put a for sale sign on the site." Vaughan went on to say that Ford's Progressive Conservatives were "talking about a mall or worse — a casino on the waterfront." "What a waste. What a terrible deficit of imagination. The people of Ontario, the folks of our city, the Toronto Liberal caucus want to keep Ontario Place a public place." When CBC News showed Vaughan that statement during his interview, he responded: "They abandoned the idea of a casino. They're not building a mall. What they're building is a park." "It's a blend of paid attractions, ours being one of them, but it's also an amazing set of new green spaces with restored habitat, and beaches that you don't need hiking boots to get to," he said. Last December, Ontario's auditor general criticized the provincial government's handling of the Ontario Place redevelopment, a project that has ballooned to cost the public purse $2.2 billion. The auditor called the process for selecting new tenants at the property neither transparent nor fair. The auditor's report found that Therme Group, the international parent company of Therme Canada, did not own and operate five of the six spas cited in its bid submission to Infrastructure Ontario. Those findings got renewed attention in April as a result of a New York Times story that questioned whether Therme exaggerated its credentials in its pitch, including whether the company had the $100 million in equity the province required as a minimum qualification. Critics react to allegations that Therme misrepresented itself to get Ontario Place deal 18 days ago Duration 2:40 Ontario's government plan to build a luxury spa on the former site of Ontario Place is under the microscope again after allegations that Therme falsely presented itself to secure the 95-year deal. CBC's Shawn Jeffords has the story. "The reason the bid won was because we met the criteria," said Vaughan. "We have three major investors that are part of our consortium," he said. "That's part of our financial structure. That's what was presented to the government." 'We're listening and the province is listening' The auditor also criticized the province for failing to hold any public consultations on the overall vision for Ontario Place until after its anchor tenants were selected. But in his interview with CBC News, Vaughan said there have been "a tonne of public consultations." "We're listening and the province is listening." He said the consultations called for such things as an accessible path to the waterfront, public beaches people can swim at and the rehabilitation of contaminated soil on the site. "All of those good things are happening and they're happening for the public and they're going to be free," Vaughan said. Therme is investing $500 million to build its facility and another $200 million in the 6.5 hectares of public space around the spa, according to the business case made public by the province. While the business case claimed Therme would pay nearly $2 billion in lease and maintenance payments over the 95-year term, the auditor pointed out that figure doesn't account for inflation, and estimated the net proceeds to the province at $153 million in today's dollars. "When you look at the park, when you look at the new beach, when you look at the change, on balance, I think it's an idea that we have to get behind in Toronto," said Vaughan. As for supporting a project so staunchly backed by Ford, one of his fiercest political opponents, Vaughan said he's "never been afraid to disagree with him."
