Ontario Place

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Ontario Place is a multiple use entertainment and seasonal amusement park owned by the Province of Ontario. Located on the shore of Lake Ontario, just south of Exhibition Place, it is approximately 4 km west of downtown Toronto. Opening in 1971, it consists of three artificially constructed, landscaped islands. Attractions are spread throughout the park, as well as walking trails and food and drink concessions. Traditionally targeted at a family audience, with emphasis on children's activities, the park has a seasonal operating schedule and is closed from October through April, with the exception of the Cinesphere IMAX theatre and private event space. Central to the complex is a public marina and a major concert theatre. Historically, Ontario Place, as a publicly subsidized provincial agency, aims to keep costs, especially for families, lower than comparable attractions.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Background 1.2 Construction 1.3 Opening Day until Today 2 Facts and figures 3 Current attractions 4 Former attractions and venues 5 Location and access 6 External links

[edit] History

[edit] Background

Even as far back as the 1960s, Toronto was concerned about its waterfront. It had suffered through more than a century of intense industrialization which cut the city off from the lakefront. By the late 1960s, half a century of automobile-centric lakeside planning had made the Toronto waterfront an unappealing, heavily industrialized location, despite its obvious potential.

Ontario Place was conceived to help to revitalize the waterfront, attract tourists to Toronto, and in part, appease the City, which was frustrated at the high level of government investment that flowed to rival Montreal for Expo 67.

The park itself was originally conceived as an onshore exhibit, but this idea was discarded in favour of five large, architecturally unique, three-level Pods. Each Pod would be approximately 8,000 square feet (743 m²) in area, and suspended by steel cables from four large central pylons driven deep into the lake bed. These Pods would initially house various Ontario-themed exhibits in an aquatic setting somewhat similar in concept to Montreal's Expo 67 grounds (which were in the middle of the St. Lawrence River).

However, a difficult but unexpectedly useful problem developed. The cost of the open-water Pod foundations alone (at the time, estimated at C$9 million) would consume almost the entire budget for the Pods' construction. Architect Eb Zeidler was faced with a dilemma: how to construct the Pods without the necessary budget.

Zeidler developed an innovative solution: after a trip to the Caribbean, he realized that a "barrier reef" concept would cut down on wave action from the lake enough to reduce the cost of the Pods' foundation to 1/10th of the original open-water estimate. After some quarrels with the port authorities (due to the dangers of the unseen reef to shipping), the reef plan was modified to incorporate three artificial "barrier islands" made from city landfill. Ironically, the barrier islands were to be so well crafted, they became an integral part of the Ontario Place experience.

The children's village was designed by Eric MacMillan, the glass pagoda building was designed by Raymond Moriyama.

[edit] Construction

The five steel and aluminum pavilion pods are eighty-eight-square feet in dimension. The pods are supported on four pipe columns, rising 105 above the lake. Tension cables support the short-span trusses. They sit on concrete filled caissons, driven 30 feet into the lake's bedrock. Each of the pavilions is connected to one another and the land by glazed steel bridges.

The Forum, an outdoor concert venue, was featured on a central hub-island, while a children's village would occupy an eastern island. A commercial section overlooked the water, with modular construction for shops and restaurants to the west. All would be connected by an intricately planned set of walkways and bridges. In addition, each island would have a unique colour scheme, and the entire complex was later infused with the brilliant colours and graphic design that were typical of the late 1960s and early 1970s.

The open-air Forum theatre sat 3,000 and had additional grass 'seats'. The roof structure was a hyperbolic paraboloid positioned on cement bastions. It covered a 68 foot revolving stage, giving near 360 degree sightlines. The roof was made out of tongue and groove plywood, covered by copper sheathing.

The sophistication of the original barrier island layout should be noted. Architect Michael Hough overlaid a scale model of the University of Toronto's excellent walking paths onto the Ontario Place plans to check for appropriate walking distances. This ensured that comfortable rest areas were placed appropriately, so that children and the elderly would not need to walk too far without a comfortable seat (or access to candy!). Soon after opening in 1971, a rubber-wheeled tractor train was used to take visitors between key points on the various islands, though this has long since been discontinued.

Prevailing wind and wave conditions were also considered in the design, a scale model of which was tested in the University of Toronto's wind tunnel. Large earthwork berms planted with tall native Ontario trees were created to shelter walkways from the prevailing southwesterly winds.

To the south, a cost-effective and theme-congruent plan to sink three large obsolete Great Lakes shipping vessels was implemented, which sheltered the artificial harbour from intense open-lake waves. (The same technique would later be used on Toronto Island and the Outer Harbour.) The first phase of construction was the sinking of the ships onto a stone bed, then covered in concrete forming a 1500' breakwater. Once the perimeter was finished, work began on the 50 acres of the three artificial islands.

There was originally some controversy about allowing a public facility to house an upscale boating dock within the new artificial harbour. However, supporters of the plan believed that the dock's integration into Ontario Place would tie the location closer to the lake via boating activity, and improve the general ambiance.

The Cinesphere is an 800 seat 70mm IMAX theatre. The building is inside a 'spherical triodetic dome', with a 61' outer radius, and a 56' inner radius. The dome is supported by prefabricated steel aluminum alloy tubes.

Ontario Place was designed to have a modular use and appearance. Zeidler says that the structures were designed to "give an illusion of dimensionless space, exploiting technology to shape the society of tomorrow." (quote from pg. 159 of Modern Canadian Architecture ISBN 0-88830-248-7)

[edit] Opening Day until Today

The original park has been altered since its inception. The popular outdoor concert stage, The Forum, was torn down in the mid-1990s and replaced with the Molson Amphitheatre.

[edit] Facts and figures

• Construction start date: March 17, 1969
• Opening day: May 22, 1971
• Total cost: $29,000,000 (Canadian funds, not adjusted for inflation)
• Client: Ontario Department of Trade and Development
• Architects: Craig, Zeidler; Strong
• Structural Engineers: Gordon Dowdell Associates
• Landscape Architects: Hough, Stansbury and Associates
• Contractor: Secant Construction
• Initial park size: 360,000 m² (96 acres), 206,000 m² (51.4 acres) created by landfill
• First-year admission price: $1.00 Adults, $0.50 for Children
• Seating: The Forum: 8,000, Molson Amphitheatre: 16,000

[edit] Current attractions

Ontario Place has rides and attractions, including the world's first permanent IMAX movie theatre: the Cinesphere.

• The Cinesphere is a geodesic dome-shaped structure which contains the theatre. It is similar in style to 'Spaceship Earth' at EPCOT in Orlando Florida, except the latter is a complete sphere.

• The Molson Amphitheatre is a large open-air venue for larger-scale music concerts. Major acts like Judas Priest, R.E.M., Phish, Dave Matthews Band, Blue Rodeo, Coldplay, Jack Johnson and the Tragically Hip have all been featured in summer concerts at the site. Bryan Adams opened the facility in May 1995.

East Island - Market Square

• Whiz Kids - Kids car ride
• Cyclone Speedway
• Mini Bumper Boats
• First Flight
• Free Fall
• Mini Greens
• Super Slide
• Treehouse Live! Stage

East Island - Soak City

• Water park with various slides and pools
  • Waterplay
  • Purple Pipeline
  • Pink Twister
  • Hydrofuge
  • Rush River

Centre Island - Marina Village

• Cinesphere
• Atlantis - Restaurant/Club
• OP Driving School
• Bumper Boats
• Cool Hoops
• Marina with Lake Ontario access

West Island - GO Zone

• Bob's Boat Yard (Peddle Boats)
• H20 Generation Station - The largest outdoor climbing structure in Canada
• Atom Blaster
• Waterfall Showplace
• Microkids

West Island - Adventure Island

• Wilderness Adventure Ride - Log ride
• MegaMaze
• F/X Theatre
• Gemstone Mining

[edit] Former attractions and venues

Attractions:

• The HMCS Haida (G63) is a decommissioned WWII destroyer that was open to the public. In the early 1960's, the ship was going to be scrapped, but volunteers raised enough money to have it saved and towed to Toronto. It opened as an attraction in August of 1965 at the pier on York Street. The city had planned to build a 'Serviceman's Memorial Park' near Princess' Gates at Exhibition Place. When the organization 'Haida Inc.' ran into financial problems, the ship was taken over by the Province of Ontario and moved in 1970 to the Ontario Place site, where it was turned into an attraction. It was also used as a Sea Cadet training camp. In 2002 it was bought by Parks Canada and taken to a new home in Hamilton, Ontario for some much needed restoration and incorporated into a new marine museum in that city.

• The Forum was an outdoor concert venue that was an architectural landmark torn down to make way for the Molson Amphitheatre: it featured covered seating under a unique tent-like, metal framed, solid roof, with extra seating on the open surrounding, grassy hills. While having only half the seating capacity of the current Amphitheatre, it had (arguably) better sound, bench seating, and offered a far more intimate theatre-in-the-round experience; featuring a rotating stage which gave every seat in the house, in turn, an excellent view. It also had the benefit of being generally free with park admission. Featured events included an annual Toronto Symphony rendition of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, complete with the firing of the guns from the nearby HMCS Haida, and often performances by well established acts, such as BB King, Pat Metheny and Canadian Bruce Cockburn. Unfortunately, due to a riot by Teenage Head fans in 1981 (purportedly instigated by their manager, who allegedly was interested in the publicity) rock acts were thereafter banned from the venue. However, perhaps the greatest loss with the passing of The Forum, is a sense of an integrated experience with the rest of Ontario Place; since it was centrally located to function as a kind of musical pass-through walking hub for the rest of the facility and the concert was usually included as part of the inexpensive admission.

[edit] Location and access

Ontario Place has vehicle access to Lakeshore Boulevard and the Gardiner Expressway. It is adjacent to the south of Exhibition Place where connections to TTC and GO Transit services are provided.

[edit] External links

• Ontario Place homepage

Coordinates: 43.628993° N 79.415048° W