After Alex Bozikovic from the Globe and Mail tweeted some pictures of what the Ontario Government is planning to do with the Ontario Place site, the public is not happy. And rightly so, public space is a highly controversial issue in Toronto and residents are looking for more public green space. Some of these tweets below show how frustrating it is to see these plans without any consideration for the environment, public space, or conserving natural ecosystems.
The new proposed sand beach adjacent to the CSO (Combined Sewer Outfall) looks smaller than the existing clean (sandfree, sandless) pebble beach known as TeachBeach where we have 998 members of https://t.co/in2KFHK92Q who swim there daily. Will Teachbeach be preserved? https://t.co/D3rBJt85G3
— Steve Mann (@Hydraulist) July 30, 2022
Save the waterfront and park. Fancy spa for a paved paradise. Keep Ontario Place a real public treasure for us all. https://t.co/bMxHWKAfCY
— Chi Nguyen (@RunChiNguyenRun) August 3, 2022
Waterfront for the People. Urgency to STOP privatization of Ontario Place in the West, AND movie studio boxes in the East. Destructively anti-urban, anti-people. Therme’s spa & studios are welcome, NOT on waterfront. @JohnLorinc @WaterfrontTO @Spacing #TOpoli #ONpoli pic.twitter.com/SP0R6SU1bO
— Gil Penalosa for Mayor (@Penalosa_G) August 3, 2022
Plans to revamp Ontario Place are 'tone-deaf' and exclusionary, say Toronto residents, critics | CBC News https://t.co/34oRd1Jd9A
— trapdinawrpool (@trapdinawrpool) August 4, 2022
Inside-track lobbying that feels like an old boys club is what turns so many of us away from politics. The price we pay when deals are made this way is so high. I'm less than thrilled that what's proposed for @OntarioPlace does not have meaningful public benefit: we deserve more. https://t.co/7aIxSoHhp1
— Chi Nguyen (@RunChiNguyenRun) August 3, 2022
The future of Ontario Place must become an election issue — it presents an opportunity for the next mayor to create either a strong built-form legacy or an epic failure that serves as a rebuke to more than 25 years of civic-minded waterfront revitalizationhttps://t.co/tPfXELb0tJ
— Spacing (@Spacing) August 2, 2022
Appalling! This cannot happen to Ontario place! @FutureofOP @ONPlace4All @Waterfront4All @fordnation https://t.co/0L1jLcWAJC
— Cindy Wilkey (@CindyWilkey) August 3, 2022
Appalling! This cannot happen to Ontario place! @FutureofOP @ONPlace4All @Waterfront4All @fordnation https://t.co/0L1jLcWAJC
— Cindy Wilkey (@CindyWilkey) August 3, 2022
Should be a wetland let’s just wait for the next big one to hit us and wipe it out shall we https://t.co/mkYXymdNJg
— Christie MacFadyen (@ChristieMacFad) July 31, 2022
Waterfronts are 'scared', almost God given to all, must NOT be privatized. Ontario Place should have been an election issue 4 & 8 years ago, and now; mayor & council have failed the city! 'It'll become far more private, exclusive, impermeable and inaccessible'. Must be stopped. https://t.co/usS5HXZMA2 pic.twitter.com/aWZE9Lr14U
— Gil Penalosa for Mayor (@Penalosa_G) August 2, 2022
Oh ... Oh no. https://t.co/tZNwiOJJvr
— Caroline Ross (@caroroscoe) July 31, 2022
The paltry amount of public space that will be left at Ontario Place is shocking and completely unacceptable. Only the areas outside of the red line are free. The pay-to-play concept here will exclude most Torontonians. Isn't Ontario Place supposed to be a place for everyone? https://t.co/2Qo5XqjHM8
— Cindy Wilkey (@CindyWilkey) August 4, 2022
Why can’t this be an all-weather completely outdoor waters/spa situation like they have all over Quebec why do we need a gross dome??? https://t.co/D1hvaLRhix
— paige dzenis (@paiiige) July 30, 2022
@WaterfrontTO this is a devastating give away of public space for mediocre design. Please please please do better. We need swim areas, green space and not concrete and glass. So sad. @OntarioPlace no more https://t.co/cQZrBnGfdZ
— Ann Elisabeth Samson (@aesamson) July 30, 2022
Everything about this plan is terrible. @OntarioPlace should be a public space open for all. https://t.co/1rf0Vn8DdQ
— Dr Beth Parton (@beth_doc) July 30, 2022
This is a devastating waste of incredible public waterfront space. Toronto could be a world class city but instead we green-light this ugly corporate greed monstrosity: https://t.co/aoNln7aCQt
— Krista Coughlin (@kristacoughlin) July 30, 2022
If you haven’t visited recently, this is how the space looks currently where the waterpark attraction is proposed. A huge loss of public space.
— Francesca Bouaoun (@frantasticx) July 30, 2022
And will the Habitat Enhancement behind the Budweiser Stage no longer be in progress? https://t.co/njm42V4FgT pic.twitter.com/E88noo3Iy1
@JohnTory This abomination is all your fault.....we know the Ford government is a pack of idiots and you let this happen to us.
— Univrsle (@univrsle) July 30, 2022
Thanks for nothing. https://t.co/rwI0B9s2Di
Stolen land. https://t.co/vOQPScNhkR
— 🇨🇦😷💉💉💉💉🌻 (@m_yve) July 30, 2022
No no, no. Let's keep Ontario Place public.@ChrisGloverNDP @WaterfrontTO https://t.co/X8GoX6HVpK
— Curious Penguins (@CuriousPenguins) August 1, 2022
In return for a massive privatization of public space at Ontario Place we get this garbage, which will look infinitely worse in reality than even in the hazy rendering bumpf. 🧵
— Andrew Lewis (@AndrewLewisFC) July 30, 2022
#TOpoli #ONpoli @shawnmicallef https://t.co/X4cvUGYQaL
Seems like a lot.
— Graeme Kennedy 🟣 (@hexagraeme) July 30, 2022
We seem to like to squander our jewels.
We have a beautiful island that is rendered inaccessible by ferry services, with large carveouts for private yacht clubs and lottery-winner residents.
OP is an opportunity to not add a bloated privatized building. https://t.co/VoEGWVmJYl
Seems like a lot.
— Graeme Kennedy 🟣 (@hexagraeme) July 30, 2022
We seem to like to squander our jewels.
We have a beautiful island that is rendered inaccessible by ferry services, with large carveouts for private yacht clubs and lottery-winner residents.
OP is an opportunity to not add a bloated privatized building. https://t.co/VoEGWVmJYl
Yikes yikes yikes - this is such a massive public space giveaway. https://t.co/eF75V471bY
— Miniature Hogweed 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️ (@shawnmicallef) July 30, 2022
I was just in New York, and thinking how some of the new public parks on the Hudson River, like Little Island, could have been inspiration for Ontario Place.
— Sean Marshall (@Sean_YYZ) July 30, 2022
Instead we’re getting this. https://t.co/9zj6YkSp7g
A waterfront gem is about to be wrecked. Yeesh. https://t.co/CokxdAEOxk
— 🏳️🌈🇹🇹JayBee “Fuck Conservatives!” Gooner! (@JayBeeGooner) July 30, 2022
Oh god. It looks like somebody ate lobster over the architectural model https://t.co/9JrSYRXCoF
— Reversion to the Mask™ (@gmeanwell) July 30, 2022
When the renderings look like shit u know it’s gonna be way worse irl https://t.co/hKmZfxdhnn
— oatmeal (@oatmealhun) July 30, 2022
The destruction of outdoor space in Toronto continues apace, this time by the Ford government https://t.co/VNWKd25uLo
— Patricia Treble (@PatriciaTreble) July 30, 2022
#topoli A mayor who genuinely had the city’s interests at heart would have bargained with the province to take over Ontario Place as a municipal park. Alas, we do not have rhat mayor. https://t.co/SlGLgUIBm6
— John Lorinc (@JohnLorinc) July 30, 2022
@fordnation’s “plan” for @OntarioPlace is brutal. It will result in a drastic loss of public space, lake & park access. It’s a magical place now; used by all.
— WQW Community Post (@qwCommunityPost) July 30, 2022
Instead, it will be for the occasional, wealthy, tourist. Run by foreign co’s. No benefit to locals. @ONPlace4All https://t.co/RAmjZnj3RO
Ridiculous. https://t.co/SlGLgUIBm6
— John Lorinc (@JohnLorinc) July 30, 2022
Bear in mind the render is high fantasy, the actual finishes and materials will inevitably look worse: https://t.co/DYMSrtGnN6
— Shane Dingman (@shanedingman) July 30, 2022
#ONpoli #TOpoli
— T.O. Resident (@TO_Resident) August 2, 2022
Let me get this straight: Doug Ford doesn’t support people using Lakeshore for exercise during #ActiveTO, but he’s ok handing over 155 acres of public land on the lakeshore to build a private waterpark?
Ferris wheels and back room deals. The Ford way.
— Jack Mlynek 🇨🇦💉💉💉💉 (@jmlynek) August 2, 2022
Leave it be please, we all love it
— t a y l o r j a n e (@tayy_lorde) August 2, 2022
