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-- Ontario Place to close Cinesphere + Rides + Water Park

Ontario Place to close Cinesphere + Rides + Water Park

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The Liberals are placing the long-term future of Ontario Place in the hands of former Progressive Conservative leader John Tory.

But in the short term, major parts of the money-losing waterfront park will be closed as the province struggles with a $16-billion budget deficit and is facing service cuts.

The water park and amusement rides will be shut down as they require $20 million in upgrades. The Cinesphere, home of the IMAX theatre, will also be closed.

But Atlantis, the Molson Amphitheatre and the marina will remain open.

As first disclosed by the Star, Finance Minister Dwight Duncan and Tourism Minister Michael Chan have turned to Tory to spearhead a drive to revamp the 41-year-old shoreline cyan elephant.

�John will lead a panel to engage Ontarians and advise the government on revitalization of Ontario Place,� a senior official said Wednesday.

�It's really about community engagement as we want Ontario Place to be totally renewed by 2017,� the source said.

�Attendance has fallen off and it's losing money. We think families deserve better.�

Underutilized for decades, the 39-hectare (96-acre) park now attracts about 1-million visitors a year, down from its heyday in the early 1970s when annual crowds of 2.5 million made it a waterfront institution.

The Liberals hope Tory, who was PC leader from 2004 until 2009 and was runner-up to David Miller in the 2003 Toronto mayoral contest, will bring some much-needed action to the facility.

He should also be able to break the traditional logjam with city hall, which owns and operates the adjacent Exhibition Place site.

Sources say Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, who respects Tory, will be willing to work with him on any integration plans.

If Ontario Place and Exhibition Place are eventually brought together under one umbrella, that could increase the value of both assets and ease redevelopment.

While a casino at Ontario Place is not in the cards � despite published rumours � gaming could come to Exhibition Place, which has more parking and better transit access.

But gambling is not part of Tory's mandate.

Appointing such a prominent Conservative � who hosts a popular afternoon radio show on Newstalk 1010 and was recently awarded the Order of Ontario for his community work, including with CivicAction � is a deft move by the Grits.

It makes it hard for his successor PC Leader Tim Hudak to attack any redevelopment plans.

As well, because Ontario Place was a pet project of Tory's friend and mentor, popular former PC premier Bill Davis, who governed from 1971 to 1985, any criticism from that quarter would be muted.

Tory MPP Peter Shurman hailed the appointment.

�John Tory is a good guy who wears a Toronto and an Ontario hat first and foremost before a partisan hat,� said Shurman (Thornhill).

�I wish him well. I always think it�s a great move turning to a Conservative. John will bring � professionalism to that task and, hopefully through the course of time, we�ll see an Ontario Place we can all be proud of,� he said

Hold a massive rave at ontario place. Just to piss off the islanders

quote:

Originally posted by Yohan Hold a massive rave at ontario place. Just to piss off the islanders

Ontario Place is pretty far from where the islanders live...and there's an airport and a few other islands in the way. In fact, it probably wouldn't piss off anyone.

Still, having a rave there - especially in the lego land building (is that still there?) - would be hella sweet.

quote:

Originally posted by Yohan Hold a massive rave at ontario place. Just to piss off the islanders

This or at canadas wonderland???

So mismanaged. The rides and games there have a target market of like 5-9 year olds and nothing else and they do a bad job at even entertaining them. They really think it would have had enough business to be profitable without targeting any teens or adults (aka people with actual money)?

Funny you guys are bashing the strategy to go after kids. When money to invest is tight to begin with, you have to go with the best ROI you can possibly estimate.

Let's take movies as an example. General Admission, or kids movies, have the best ROI of all movie classes. They cost less to make, but parents come out in droves, because it is easy to do with kids.

When you want to attract older audiences, you have to bump up the quality of the 'show' significantly ($$$$). Young adults and adults can be very picky about what they spend their entertainment dollars on, and it is already a very competitive environment in Toronto.

Couple this with the fact that adults, and young adults are much more influenced by trends, and what is hot one year, can be a total bust next year, completely destroying your investment.

So if you have to bet on a sure thing, with low investment, I think going after kids was the right move by them.

The one big difference between something like Ontario place kids attractions and movies, is that movies can appeal to everybody. Example: shrek is funny to kids and adults.

If they want to attract adults, there is going to have to a shit tonne of investment to make it happen. This won't happen though because of how cash strapped Ontario is.

A casino is the wrong move IMO, I just don't agree with them, its another tax.

quote:

Originally posted by Orko A casino is the wrong move IMO, I just don't agree with them, its another tax.

Not to mention it will pretty much eliminate the need for 3 others in Ontario that people in the GTA currently travel to.

(sorry to derail)

Would be so crazy to rent it all out and throw a festival there before work gets done.. Could easily have multiple stages there. All profits go towards the renovations? Main safety concern would be all the water though.

quote:

Originally posted by Orko

Not just saying they go after the wrong demo. Disney is built on targeting kids and look where it's at. But more so a combo of targeting a very narrow range and just doing a plain old bad job at that. For example I think it's made for 5-9 year olds but at the same time if you give kids that age the choice between Ontario Place or Wonderland, 4/5 will choose the latter because it's so much better even for their age. Bottom line try to go after a bigger audience or do a better job at perfecting your appeal to the narrow one but don't suck at doing both.

I bet another half-bred nincompoop will try throwing another music festival in Toronto staged at Ontario Place. That has EPIC FAIL written all over it.

they show make ontario place more adult orientated like when John Maxwell was the incharge, live music, bars restaurants, make something people would want to go to for a night out other than just for a concert at the empty theatre

Employees and supporters rally to keep Ontario Place open

http://www.thestar.com/news/article...place-open?bn=1

My first time going was in grade 8 I think. At the time they had some boat racing track (they were enclosed speed boats) with huge floating balls as bumpers but you had to be 16 to ride it. I went back when I was 16 and it was gone. I was pissed. Anyone else remember that?

I've always wondered where that pic was taken from.

Yea that pic is everywhere

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Originally posted by Dior Homme I've always wondered where that pic was taken from.

Trance Energy 2006

quote:

Originally posted by jchung52 My first time going was in grade 8 I think. At the time they had some boat racing track (they were enclosed speed boats) with huge floating balls as bumpers but you had to be 16 to ride it. I went back when I was 16 and it was gone. I was pissed. Anyone else remember that?

I went on these a few times. It was such an incredible rush being a kid and riding around in a speedboat with basically no supervision. You'd get so much lift in the front of the boats you could barely see where you were going, and they were FAST.

I miss them

quote:

The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation is betting a new Greater Toronto Area casino will create thousands of new jobs and attract $3 billion in private investments. The location of the new GTA casino is still undecided, said OLG chair Paul Godfrey as he unveiled the agency�s strategic business review Monday at Queen�s Park. But Woodbine Racetrack in the west end, the CNE, Ontario Place and even the Portlands southeast of downtown are said to be possibilities. �We are prepared to move forward immediately on discussions with municipal leaders to bring one new, world-class gaming centre to the GTA,� Godfrey said. �It will create jobs and be a catalyst for economic growth and prosperity. It will generate new revenue and be crucial for tourism.� If the changes are made, $1.3 billion more could be added to the public purse, said Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan. The review calls for underperforming gaming facilities to close and for new casinos to be built with private money, although a municipality has to show interest first. It�s unclear which other cities could also get a casino, although Ottawa is a possibility, Godrey said. It also calls for an expansion of slot machines beyond racetracks, which threatens the profits of Woodbine Entertainment and other Ontario track operators. On the chopping block is a revenue-sharing agreement with racetracks that gives them a cut of the slot profits, amounting to $345 million a year. The horseracing industry is concerned the move will put thousands of people out of work. Toronto Mayor Rob Ford and his brother, Councilor Doug Ford, have made it clear they want a casino and even mused it could help them pay for transit expansion. Toronto has received nearly $175 million from Woodbine profits, OLG said. The modernizing plan is a bid to prop up the agency and bring needed revenue to Ontario as it fights a $16 billion deficit. It includes selling lottery tickets online, in big box stores and supermarkets, and moving 6,000 jobs to private operators. �Lottery tickets can be in drugstores, multi-lane stores, the Walmarts, the Costcos of the worlds,� Godfrey said. A socially responsible and secure Internet-based gaming site will also be introduced � as was previously announced. Overall, the strategy should create 2,300 net new jobs and 4,000 service and hospitality sector spinoff positions, said OLG CEO Rod Phillips. Bringing in the private sector would mean moving 6,000 gaming positions to the private operators managing the OLG sites. Already, 60 per cent of gaming employees in the province work for private operators at resort casinos. But according to the OLG�s strategic business review, in the next 18 months, the agency wants to see 100 per cent employed by the private sector. That worries the Canadian Auto Workers, the union representing nearly 4,000 OLG employees. �We don�t think privatization is the way to go,� said Bob Orr, assistant to CAW president Ken Lewenza. �We went on record with them saying there should be a moratorium on any new gaming sites,� Orr said. �This is not the way to offset lost revenues caused by the loss of manufacturing jobs.� The New Democratic Party accused the government of trying to balance the books on �desperate families who want to try to become millionaires.� �In my view, this is not the way to raise money,� said NDP MPP Rosario Marchese (Trinity�Spadina). �This is not the way to create jobs responsibly.� Duncan disagreed. �People gamble. Prohibition doesn�t work.� Ontario must act now to reform the OLG or everyone will suffer, said Godfrey. The current OLG model is unsustainable due to offshore gambling sites, declining border traffic and limited spots to buy lottery tickets, he added. If the gaming corporation doesn�t modernize, $1 billion in public capital will be needed just to update the current service, he said. �Doing nothing means our contribution to the province will continue to erode,� Godfrey said. �If we stand still, OLG�s bottom line will erode. The province�s bottom line will erode.� The private sector can manage the casinos, run the tables, the concession stands and provide capital funding for new builds, the plan states. �What expertise does a Crown corporation have in running a hot dog stand in a casino?� asked Duncan. Private sector involvement would mean $3 billion in new capital investment dollars, Godfrey said. Policy control over lottery and gaming would stay with OLG. �We are basically saying, you own the structure, we�ll own the customers,� Godfrey said. No details were given as to which underperforming casinos will close, he added. However, gaming sites near the U.S. border are suffering. Profits at border facilities have plummeted from $800 million in 2001 to $100 million in 2011. The rising Canadian dollar and the need for passports at the border have �all contributed to a significant decline at our border sites,� said Godfrey. Duncan insisted the Windsor and Niagara Falls casinos will not shut down. OLG is currently responsible for 23,000 slot machines, over 500 games tables, 27 gaming facilities and over 10,000 lottery terminals. Although the revenue-sharing agreement is on the chopping block, slots won�t necessarily disappear at all racetracks. The agency is studying slot machine locations and they may move some. �I am sure in some areas there will continue to be slots at racetracks,� Godfrey said. �In other areas we may find it is more beneficial, because of an erosion of the performance or the population is too far away, to consider an alternative site.�

quote:

Originally posted by Billche I went on these a few times. It was such an incredible rush being a kid and riding around in a speedboat with basically no supervision. You'd get so much lift in the front of the boats you could barely see where you were going, and they were FAST. I miss them

grrrrr. At the time one of the James Bond movies came out where he had an enclosed speed boat. That's why I wanted to ride it lol

There's another photo I have as a wallpaper, similar to that but more yellow lights lol.


Anyway, a casino in place of OP would hinder our waterfront. I think all the lights would make it an eyesore.

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