Toronto city council staff are to explore the possibility of an alternative site for Therme Canada, a C$350 million water park and wellbeing resort planned for Ontario Place.
Via CBC, Toronto city council’s executive committee voted unanimously at a meeting this week to ask senior city staff to look into relocating Therme Canada from Ontario Place to the Exhibition Place mixed-use district, including within the Better Living Centre convention site.
Staff will prepare a preliminary feasibility assessment after speaking to the CEO of Exhibition Place and then report back to the executive committee’s meeting on 5 December.
However, the Canadian National Exhibition, which takes place at Exhibition Place, is opposed to the feasibility study and proposed relocation.
Concerns about new Therme project
“We are opposed to a feasibility study for Therme on site. We are opposed to Therme being on site in any way, shape or form,” Darrell Brown, president of the Canadian National Exhibition Association, told the committee.
On the Ontario Place site for Therme Canada, deputy mayor of Toronto Ausma Malik said: “Through the city’s robust development application process and what we were able to hear from staff today, both the public and the city staff have expressed serious concerns about the proposed Therme spa and water park on our waterfront.
“Its scale, impact on heritage landscape, relation to the public realm and enormous new underground parking structure have yet to be addressed and haven’t shown that it belongs on our waterfront. I believe this alternative is worth considering as an improved site for the water park and spa with benefits to Exhibition Place potentially.”
Toronto city councillor Amber Morley said: “I think we’ve heard very loud and clear from Torontonians about the need for deeper consultation and a better solution because the proposal before us and the vision that the province is aggressively moving forward is not in keeping with what’s best for our city.”
During this week’s meeting, city staff expressed major concerns about the new Therme project, including the scale of the water park, the planned filling in of an area of Lake Ontario, and the impact of an underground parking facility.
In September, Therme Group released a “newly evolved” design for Therme Canada, including more parkland and natural spaces. Additionally, the volume of the Therme building has been reduced by 25 percent.
Images courtesy of Therme Group
