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Ontario Place to close Cinesphere + Rides + Water Park
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| Swamper |
Article: LINK
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
I agree with this comment found on the page... don't know if it'll happen though:
"I would like to point out that for many years Ontario Place was billed as a kids park. Since the late 1990s it has been billed as an amusement park for kids. I am 24 now and have no reason to go there, simply put it shuts down after 6 PM and there is nothing to see or do there anymore if you are over the age of 12. I remember seeing Jurassic Park there in 1993 at the Cinesphere for example whereas now the only movies that play there are educational films for school aged children.
What the park needs in order to be revamped is a makeover. It needs to be turned into a sort of Coney Island amusement park here in Toronto. Right by the water and open late, May-October. The Cinesphere needs to show movies that people want to see other than films about the hubble telescope. If you make it so people want to come they will. If you gear it towards kids... nobody will come. Oh and about movies at the Cinesphere.. A bugs life does not qualify as a movie people want to see." |
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| Yohan |
| Hold a massive rave at ontario place. Just to piss off the islanders |
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| CMR |
| 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. |
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| Ferg |
| quote: | Originally posted by Yohan
Hold a massive rave at ontario place. Just to piss off the islanders |
This or at canadas wonderland??? |
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| GGM |
| 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)? |
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| Orko |
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 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. |
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| mdm8 |
| 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) |
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| jchung52 |
| 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. |
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| GGM |
| quote: | Originally posted by Orko
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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. |
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| london_ta |
| 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. |
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| Halycon |
| 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 |
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