Many of the exhibits at the Ontario Science Centre that delighted visitors until this summer are now wrapped in plastic as the facility prepares to move them into storage.
CTV News have obtained pictures of some of the exhibits, as well as empty building rooms and stacks of pallets that signalled a major move is almost underway, about two months after the building was dramatically and controversially closed.
It’s not yet clear where the exhibits are headed for storage, though at least one other science centre has expressed interest in the future of the artifacts.
“Being constantly in touch with all of the museum industry stakeholders, the Montreal Science Centre’s exhibitions team has reached out to the Ontario Science Centre’s exhibitions team to know more about what they planned to do with some of their artifacts, which is a pretty common practice in their field,” said Old Port of Montreal spokesperson Steven Poitevin.
The OSC was ordered shut down with just hours notice in June, as government officials claimed an engineering report indicated concrete roof panels made the building unsafe to occupy.
It turned out that the report gave other options than closure, and since then, others, including the firm that designed the building, have said the roof could be fixed safely, and millions of dollars have been pledged to the effort by prominent scientists, businesspeople and public figures.
The closure displaced children in summer camps and cancelled a dream program for 65 high school students who had hoped to spend a semester learning at the Ontario Science Centre. The nearby station for the Eglinton Line, dubbed “Science Centre,” will not be near the planned site for a new science centre at Ontario Place.
According to a request for proposal, the earliest a temporary location for the science centre could be up and running is 2026, and the proposed location on the waterfront won’t be able to welcome visitors until at least 2028.
Another issue – many of these exhibits were designed and built at the facility on Don Mills Road, and there will not be room for this at the new location, meaning that even as officials search for a temporary location they must also search for another building as well for the exhibit fabrication, a search that is still ongoing.
Advocate Floyd Ruskin said over 84,000 have sent letters to Premier Doug Ford to stop the closure.
“We have an election coming up, and our feedback at Save Ontario’s Science Centre is overwhelmingly, say, 99 to 1, ‘Please save the Science Centre.’ We want it open and properly funded on Don Mills Road,” Ruskin said.
In a statement, an infrastructure ministry spokesperson said staff are still working in the building until they believe the roof tiles would be more unstable under the weight of potential snowfall.
“The OSC staff is in the process of cataloguing and removing all exhibits, artifacts, and science experiences from the building ahead of the October 31, 2024 deadline. Temporary storage locations of OSC program-related items are under review and haven’t been confirmed. This will include necessary considerations concerning the exhibits and artifacts to ensure alignment with best practices and requirements. This work is important to protect the legacy and history of the Science Centre.
“The Science Centre has been delivering programming at pop-ups and community events this summer and will continue into the fall. As well, we’re working on new ways to engage with schools, as well as satellite experiences,” the spokesperson said.
