Ontario Place Through The Years

Ontario Place is an internationally acclaimed cultural, leisure and entertainment parkland located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The complex extends throughout three man-made islands along the Lake Ontario waterfront.

Ontario Place opened in May 1971 and featured a five pod pavilion complex, The Forum, pedal boats, a marina, restaurants and the world's first permanent IMAX® theatre, the Cinesphere.

Introduction

Ontario Place was built as a showcase for the Province of Ontario that would replace the Government of Ontario building at the CNE and take advantage of what was then an under-developed waterfront area.

Construction started on March 17, 1969 and took an estimated 1.5 million person hours of labour to build at a cost of $29M.

The original park was consisted of three man-made islands connected by picturesque bridges and walkways with the Pods or Pavilion, complex and the geodesic dome of the Cinesphere as the focal points.

The park initially encompassed 96 acres of which 51 acres were land fill.

The gate first opened to the public on May 22, 1971, 38 years ago.

The 1970's

The Pods/Cinesphere complex and restaurants nodes dotted that rather spartan landscape that consisted of the IMAX theatre, South Marina, Forum, a reflecting pool, pedal boat rentals, boutiques, a number of lookout points and promenades, and the precursor to the Children's Village.

There was prime parking lot available and massive amounts of land on the east island were bare, awaiting future development.

That first brochure presented Ontario Place as a "work in progress" that would be ever changing and have something for everyone.

Admission in that first year was $1 for adults and $.50 for children.

Ontario Place started to develop a better sense of identity through the introduction of key award winning attractions.

Children's Village which continues to be one of our most popular features was opened in 1972.

The following year, the Waterplay area was introduced along with an Alice in Wonderland themed mini golf course.

The Marina became a destination for Great Lake watercraft and the Forum played host to the finest in Canadian talent under a translucent vinyl canopy, the canopy was replaced by the signature copper roof in 1978.

The 1980's

The park had undergone a substantial transformation with the introduction of a number of new attractions aimed at giving every member of the family something to enjoy.

Canada's first Waterslide was opened in August of 1978 in the south east parking lot of Ontario Place pushing the attractions development right to the water's edge.

The West Island reflecting pool was filled in with concrete and a refrigeration system to furnish an ice skating rink whose outline can still be seen in the circular footprint of the Island Club.

In 1979 the rink was opened in summer as a roller rink offering a unique hangout for post disco-era teens .

In 1980 the government constructed an ambitious display to specifically feature northern Ontario, the display known as Ontario North Now consisted of 7 concrete silos linked by walkways on the western short of the park; the wildlife of Northern Ontario; the theme would be carried further in coming years as further development of the West Island occurred.

Finally the bumper boats were introduced in 1980 to begin a trend in waterfront utilization started with the original pedal boats in 1971.

The early 80's marked a time when the park had established itself as the waterfront destination for a concert or day out with the family.

Future Pod opened in 1982 in Pod 5 to feature displays and exhibits in technology, communications and energy; funded by the Government of Ontario it was where Canadians got their first glimpse of a full-sized replica of the Canada Arm; as designed. This pod would undergo many changes including being occupied for a short time by the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

In 1981 a 70mm film festival was introduced at the Cinesphere making use of the theatre for non-IMAX films for the first time.

In 1983 the first landfill project since the original construction was completed adding a third parking lot to the eastern shore.

In 1984 a massive theming and reconstruction of the west island saw the introduction of the Wilderness Adventure Ride, a fully automated flume ride complete with 40 foot splashdown.

To support the northern Ontario theme the roller rink was transformed into the Waterfall Showplace and all restaurants and boutiques on the island took on a northern name and flavour including Muskeg Pete's Main Street and Points North; the west entrance also underwent a facelift with an expansion of the interior plaza and ticket and security facilities, these facilities would be much needed in coming years as we introduced major events to the site

The 1990's

In 1991 Ontario place celebrated its 20th anniversary wherein we introduced a free admission program that lasted until 1996.

In 1991 the Festival Stage was built to add an important venue for children's programming close to the Children's Village.

In 1992 Bungee jumping made a brief appearance at Ontario Place.

A more permanent addition to the park was the start of our waterpark development in 1993 with the opening of the Hydrofuge (featured in Ontario Tourism commercials).

1993 marked the year we introduced the Play All Day Pass a pay one price package that allowed visitors to use the attractions throughout the day for one low price.

Ontario North silos were revitalized by a talented group of designers whose efforts resulted in the Megamaze; a series of mazes that continue to mesmerize young and old.

1994 Ontario Place ceased operating the Trillium restaurant making way for redevelopment of 2 pods into the Atlantis complex.

Finally in 1994 our largest silo was refitted to house SeaTrek, a motion simulator ride built by Simex of Toronto.

Our biggest and perhaps most controversial, construction feat took place over the winter of 1994/95 with the demolition of the old Forum to make way for the Molson Canadian Amphitheatre; the Amphitheatre seats 16,000 as compared to 8,000 in the old venue and, though the caliber of entertainment is of the highest standard, there are still those who lament the passing of an entertainment institution.

In 1995 the Molson Canadian Amphitheatre opened to rave reviews winning the RPM magazine award for Best New Concert Venue.

The expansion of the waterpark continued with the demolition of the old waterslides making way for Rush River Raft Ride, a 5 person raft experience that winds its way down an 8 story tower and hillside.

In 1996 Cool Hoops and Whiz Kids added much needed critical mass for the very popular Play All Day Pass.

1997 marked the year pay as you go attractions pricing went out in favour of the Play All Day Pass.

As well the waterpark continued to grow with 2 new waterslides, the Pink Twister and Purple Pipeline rounding out the mix.

In 1998 the Aquajet Racers were introduced, these miniature versions of a race boat allow for the thrill of go kart racing on the water.

And new for 1999 we introduced branded concepts in the food concession operations throughout the site