TL;DR
- The Ontario Science Centre (OSC) is temporarily hosted at Harbourfront Centre, with plans to build a new OSC inside Ontario Place.
- The original building on 770 Don Mills Rd. is currently vacant and fenced off; residents, advocates and local representatives want to see it reopened with dedicated programming.
- Save the OSC, Moriyama Teshima Architects, Coun. Josh Matlow and Coun. Jon Burnside are hosting community consultations to ask Torontonians what should be done with the building.
- You can sign a petition to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, or send a template email to provincial and city representatives.
📸: Yara El Murr/The Green Line.
I only got to see the Ontario Science Centre (OSC) in all its glory just once as an adult — and I felt like I was crashing a middle school field trip.
As my friends and I went through the interactive exhibits, we danced on kinetic floor tiles and competed on rowing machines. One of my friends, who’s an architect and curator, raved about her love for its brutalist architecture, which I hadn’t fully appreciated at the time.
Four months later, the iconic building was fenced off.
While debates and controversies continue to unfold over the relocation of the centre to Ontario Place, the building at 770 Don Mills Rd. is standing strong.
Flemingdon Park residents, councillors and members of provincial parliament (MPPs) are fighting to reopen the space, advocating for programming to serve the local community and beyond.
The Ontario government permanently closed the OSC on 770 Don Mills Rd. on June 21, 2024 due to “serious structural issues” in the roof panels.
Many disputed the move, correctly pointing out that engineering reports don’t require or recommend the entire site’s closure. Two winters and a historic snowstorm later, the roof still hasn’t collapsed.
For now, the OSC is temporarily hosted at Harbourfront Centre, with plans to build a new OSC at Ontario Place by 2029.
The future of the original building left in Flemingdon Park is uncertain.
That’s why locals and activists have mobilized a campaign to “Save Ontario’s Science Centre” (Save OSC).
The group has been writing to Premier Doug Ford, organizing events and activities for children, and most recently, asking Torontonians what should be done with the building.
On April 1, Save OSC held a community consultation in Flemingdon Park, in collaboration with Moriyama Teshima Architects (a firm founded by Raymond Moriyama, who designed the building in 1969), as well as councillors Josh Matlow of St. Paul and Jon Burnside of Don Valley East.
📸: Yara El Murr/The Green Line.
This comes after Toronto city council adopted a motion last December to request the Ontario government, in consultation with the City of Toronto, to:
- Provide an update on the state of OSC’s infrastructure and good repair investments.
- Maintain the outdoor landscaping and activity installations, and provide public access to locals.
- Establish a temporary all-season facility at 770 Don Mills Rd., with the needed programming and funding.
- Provide an update on the state of OSC’s infrastructure and good repair investments.
- Maintain the outdoor landscaping and activity installations, and provide public access to locals.
- Establish a temporary all-season facility at 770 Don Mills Rd., with the needed programming and funding.
Now, it’s in the hands of staff in the city manager’s office to negotiate and engage with the province.
Sebastien Gibson, a senior advisor for policy, planning and communications in Councillor Josh Matlow’s office told The Green Line that staff are working on a report outlining potential recreation and education uses for the building at 770 Don Mills Rd. based on the community consultation.
“While the province has yet to signal its plans, we’re optimistic it will recognize the opportunity to deliver much-needed recreation and education assets for the Thorncliffe and Flemingdon communities,” Gibson said in an email.
Don Valley East MPP Adil Shamji is encouraging constituents to sign a petition to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, asking to halt demolition plans, to hold community consultations and to uphold decisions provided by participants.
Why does this matter?
Almost everyone The Green Line spoke to in Thorncliffe Park and Flemingdon Park during the community consultation and beyond, said these neighbourhoods don’t have enough recreation space for the thousands living there.
Also front and centre in their minds is the lack of local access to fresh food and employment opportunities.
According to the 2021 census, 42,930 people live in Flemingdon Park and Thorncliffe Park.
These already densely populated neighbourhoods are expected to become even more crowded with multiple massive condo developments that have been proposed or approved. This includes the Transit-Oriented Community (TOC) at the pending Thorncliffe Park Station, which promises 2,660 new homes, and the Lawrence Heights Revitalization project, which will bring 1,470 new residential units to Flemingdon Park.
All of these people have access to only four community centres and one public library.
Even though the existing hubs offer regular programming for youth, seniors and newcomers, there’s not nearly enough resources to accommodate all residents, staff from different local agencies told The Green Line.
Flemingdon Park and Thorncliffe Park are both classified by the City of Toronto as Neighbourhood Improvement Areas (NIAs), which means they need targeted investment to address socio-economic inequities, such as lower incomes, education and health outcomes.
Flemingdon and Thorncliffe Food Justice researchers have also documented the deepening food insecurity facing these local communities.
For attendees at the community consultation earlier this month, investment in a community space with dedicated programming is about much more than leisure — it has the potential to address core livability problems in their neighbourhoods, including recreation, food access and more.
What could 770 Don Mills Rd. become?
On April 1, representatives from Moriyama Teshima Architects showcased a 3D model of the site and presented proposals that were put together after consultations with experts and designers. Their plans include a community hub, an Indigenous hub focused on reconciliation and an innovation hub.
📸: Yara El Murr/The Green Line.
More than sixty attendees were grouped around tables and asked to brainstorm guiding principles and potential uses of the building left in Flemingdon Park.
It was clear that people loved the space, not just the OSC.
The participants that The Green Line spoke to want to see it reimagined as a community hub where exploration and accessibility are key. Participants wrote their answers on sticky notes, which were then collected by City of Toronto staff to inform next steps.
📸: Yara El Murr/The Green Line.
Najeeb Siddiqui, a Flemingdon Park resident and local environmentalist, wants to see the building repurposed into a multi-service community hub for education, events, medical services and even farming.
“There could be more greenhouses put in place that don’t take very long to construct or to manage, and [the] space can be utilized by community members,” he said.
Siddiqui explained that locals could grow and share fresh produce that would feed back into the community.
“There’s a habitat right at the back in the valley that should be protected and cherished…not become a victim of demolition and excavation,” he added.
Conservation was a common theme among residents attending the consultation.
Mary Hynes, a former teacher who lived and worked in Flemingdon Park, wants to see “a school of the Don Valley or museum of the Don Valley.”
“What it would entail is having the geology, the geography, the history, the plants, the animals and the people who’ve lived here over the years,” she said.
If you have your own ideas of what the building should become, here’s how you can get involved in the conversation.
How to chime in on the building’s future
- Sign a petition to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to call for pausing any demolition plans and holding community consultations.
- Send a template email to the premier, provincial ministers of infrastructure and tourism, members of provincial parliament, Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow and city councillors.
- Encourage children to participate in and share drawings and posters about the OSC.
- Learn more about the Save the OSC campaign on its website and by emailing directly at info@savesciencecentre.com.
- Keep an eye on Coun. Josh Matlow’s motion to protect the OSC, which was adopted by city council last December. Coun. Josh Matlow office will be holding a second community consultation in May, with details to be announced soon.
Fact-Check Yourself
Sources and
further reading
Don’t take our word for it — check our sources for yourself.
Join the conversation