Preliminary Feasibility Assessment of Siting the Therme Facility at Exhibition Place

The Therme facility would include a large main building on the West Island at a maximum height of 41 metres and an entry building on the mainland at a maximum height of 23 metres. The total gross floor area of the proposed facility is 61,342 square metres. This facility would be the most prominent feature of Ontario Place. The Therme applications also propose public realm around the perimeter of the West Island, as well as a 3.4 acre publicly accessible roof area. The Ontario Place site is a Provincially-significant heritage and tourism attraction for visitors from across Ontario, Canada and internationally. It closed as a fully operating attraction in 2012, and the Province advises that existing buildings, bridges, servicing infrastructure and shoreline require reinvestment to ensure the future viability of the site. Ontario Place today also serves as a waterfront public amenity and a cultural heritage landscape of international significance. This assessment considers whether an alternate location could meet Therme's needs. Based on the preliminary opportunities and constraints identified to date, there is merit in further exploring the alternative for the relocation of the Therme facility, provided there is interest from the Province and/or Therme. This high-level exploration suggests that some configuration of the Therme facility could be relocated to the Better Living Centre site. This report describes three potential configurations involving varying degrees of operational, planning and infrastructure challenges. Consistent with the findings of the Exhibition Phase One Proposals Report, the importance of retaining a significant amount of flexible and adaptable open space at Exhibition Place is a foundational consideration. The continued operation of Exhibition Place as the home of events such as the Canadian National Exhibition, the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair, trade and conventions shows, and sporting events, as well as the need to enhance the grounds to provide improved connections through the site, will require that a significant portion of the site remain as flexible and adaptable open spaces. Assumptions in this assessment are based on information submitted to the City in Therme's planning application submissions. The analysis is intended as a preliminary identification of opportunities, constraints and further work only. If there is direction to continue this work, staff would seek operational and business inputs from the applicant which could rule out options and/or lead to modified options. City staff reached out to key tenants on the City's landholdings at Exhibition Place. The Canadian National Exhibition Association's preliminary input is captured in this report. Outreach to the Royal Winter Agricultural Fair was limited because their annual event was hosted as this analysis took place. The Province and tenants on Provincial land-holdings at Ontario Place were not engaged in the process. If there is direction to continue this work, the stakeholder outreach discussed in this report would be expanded and supplemented.