TORONTO – This is what the new Ontario Place will look like. The Austrian resort company ‘Therme’, which signed a long-term lease agreement with the Province of Ontario earlier this year ahead of the construction of the new ‘spa’, announced updated plans today, also to respond to public criticism of the company’s original plans. Updated projects that therefore incorporate the feedback received from public meetings and the various improvement proposals that have arrived in recent months from many quarters. 

Among the criticisms were those relating to the excessive height of the central building of the baths and the scarcity of open public space. “We made the building smaller (it was reduced by 25%) and increased the amount of public park (by 35%)” architect Gary Mcluskie, who worked on the project with colleague Jeff Craft, told CP24 today. “We’ve done a re-design and we’re pitching back to the city – we’ll be doing another round of public consultations. So there’s still room for input and we’re looking forward to people’s comments,” the designer added. ‘Therme’ claims to have changed the design of the proposed facilities, creating a ‘campus-style’ building layout. The redesign also sees a total of sixteen acres of publicly accessible space on the West Island, more than currently exists, according to the company.

“The design we presented today offers the same fantastic attractions of the water park and wellness, but, thanks to the feedback received, it has an even more open park, more natural spaces, more public paths and more places where people can come together,” says Robert Hanea, CEO & Chairman of Therme Group. “After this revitalization, there will be more public space than what currently exists on the West Island.”

‘Therme’ also says the redesign also aims to acknowledge “the important role of indigenous heritage on the site,” adding that many of the floors were created in partnership with MCFN (Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation) Natives. “We are very satisfied with the presentation of the West Island project at Ontario Place”, said the head of MCFN, Stacey LaForme. And just as a tribute to the Natives, the pedestrian bridge to the West Island from Lakeshore Boulevard West has been redesigned to recreate the path of the Credit River, “to honor its significance for MCFN – explains ‘Therme’ – which lived and continues to live on the north shore of Lake Ontario”.

In the images above, two of the renderings published by “Therme” on Facebook this morning