Here’s what the new Ontario Science Centre will look like
Premier Doug Ford unveiled renderings of the 400,000-square foot facility today. It’s set to open at Ontario Place in 2029
Premier Doug Ford revealed the vision for the new Ontario Science Centre today.
“When they first showed me the architectural designs, I was like, ‘Wow, this is going to be world class,’” he told reporters at a media event, as reported by the Toronto Star. “I am pumped.”
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The 400,000-square foot building was designed by Hariri Pontarini Architects—the same firm behind the McMichael Canadian Art Collection redevelopment. It’s set to be built along the Ontario Place lagoon, with tall windows, lake views, a catwalk and a grand staircase. Ford called the design “iconic.”
The original Science Centre, still standing in North York, closed in 2024, with Ford citing concerns about the building’s roof.
The $1.04-billion contract to build the new Science Centre was awarded to Ontario Science Partners. The provincial government says around 5,700 jobs will be created for its construction.
The reimagined Science Centre is scheduled to open in 2029 as part of Ford’s overhauled Ontario Place plan, opponents of which Ford previously called “a bunch of crazy lefties that want to protect one or two trees or three birds.”
Ford plans get construction started this spring.
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Carly Lewis is a journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times and the New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, Wired, Interview Magazine, Pitchfork, Elle, and Maclean’s, where she is a contributing editor. Her work has been recognized by the National Magazine Awards and the Digital Publishing Awards. She reports on city life, culture—including what people do online—politics, art and crime. She received the Dave Greber Freelance Writers Award for “The Murder of Ashley Wadsworth,” an investigative feature about a Canadian teenager who was killed by a man she met on social media, published by Maclean’s.
