By the early morning hours of Monday May 29, the fence was up. In the face of several years of sustained civic outcry, advocacy, counter-proposals, and community organizing to shape the future of Ontario Place, the public is gradually getting shut out. As the provincial government’s controversial, top-down plan to redevelop the public site as a private waterpark — to be run by Austrian-based firm Therme Group — continues to advance with a pending resubmission, a civic space is already being erased.
Over the years, much has already been written about the development, from criticism about the lack of consultation and input, to the harm of privatizing a long-neglected public space into a for-profit attraction, the loss of architectural heritage, and the sources of Therme’s funding. Even the City of Toronto’s planning department has been sharply critical. And more recently, the provincial government’s half-baked plan to relocate the Raymond Moriyama-designed Ontario Science Centre to Ontario Place drew immediate condemnation from the architectural community and beyond. But the fence is a different kind of dilemma.
After the barrier — situated at the edge of Trillium Park — was installed, access to the West Island was restricted to a single entrance, and limited to what’s described as “passive pedestrian use.” The majority of the site is slated to be closed to the public in 2024, even though redevelopment plans have yet to be approved. And although the partial closure was swiftly critiqued, the mounting loss of public access is fundamentally difficult to counter. As the site becomes physically detached from our daily lives, the stakes of privatization and redevelopment risk appearing diminished. After all, it’s one thing to lose a public park — but an abandoned construction site? For Premier Ford and Therme, it’s a characteristically crude manoeuvre. Yet, Ontario Place remains a vital public venue. In May, Toronto-based artist and photographer Ben Dickey explored the site, chronicling the derelict beauty — and civic potential — of a public landmark.
Locked Out: A Photo Tribute to Ontario Place
As public access to the West Island becomes limited, photographer Ben Dickey chronicles the derelict beauty — and civic potential – of an iconic site.