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Ontario Science Centre

Agreed, it should be world class.

I believe it was located where it was, because it was more accessible to less affluent schools. Also easy enough to school bus too, and not deal with the headache of downtown Toronto, which is only getting worse. Yes West end Toronto suffers for access to it though.

I can't see it being re-located to downtown for the above reasons and the much higher cost of real estate.
 
It WAS world class... but it was well out dated by the '80s.
Ontario spent a box full o' dough on a world class technology museum... then walked away. The Science Center management couldn't get funding to fix the building, let alone trying to keep up with modern exhibits.
This isn't a NEW problem... the roof falling in is new, but the reason it's falling in goes WAY back, and it isn't Dougie's fault.
I became a patron when my daughter was born (I REALLY liked the Science Center), but gave up when I figured out the money was going to keep the doors open... and that was 1991. My daughter thought the Science Center was MEH... but she went at least once a year till she was 13 or 14.
 
Mike: While I agree teaching has changed, the kids they are teaching still benefit from "hands on".
Remember the the two parabolic dishes where you could speak to you friend across the room?
Or the "coffEE", "COffee" thingamabob?
Or the brake reaction time test?
You can't teach that stuff
ADHD kids LOVE 'hands on"
 
bitzz said:
Mike: While I agree teaching has changed, the kids they are teaching still benefit from "hands on".
Remember the the two parabolic dishes where you could speak to you friend across the room?
Or the "coffEE", "COffee" thingamabob?
Or the brake reaction time test?
You can't teach that stuff
ADHD kids LOVE 'hands on"
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Wow. I was talking to my wife about the Science Center yesterday, and those exact 3 things were on our list as the most memorable.

My parents both worked at Don Mills and Eglinton, I spent a lot of time at the science center in the late 70s.

We also remembered these:
  • dry ice & roses
  • giant laser
  • Van De Graffe generator (the one that made your hair fly up with static electricity).
 
Mad Mike said:
Wow. I was talking to my wife about the Science Center yesterday, and those exact 3 things were on our list as the most memorable.

My parents both worked at Don Mills and Eglinton, I spent a lot of time at the science center in the late 70s.

We also remembered these:
  • dry ice & roses
  • giant laser
  • Van De Graffe generator (the one that made your hair fly up with static electricity).
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I haven't been in decades. Some of my daughters art work was in one of the halls.
 
Mad Mike said:
Wow. I was talking to my wife about the Science Center yesterday, and those exact 3 things were on our list as the most memorable.

My parents both worked at Don Mills and Eglinton, I spent a lot of time at the science center in the late 70s.

We also remembered these:
  • dry ice & roses
  • giant laser
  • Van De Graffe generator (the one that made your hair fly up with static electricity).
Click to expand...
Keep our eyes on the government auctions. There may be some fun toys that come out (but I have very low expectations and expect the bulldozer to be brought in early). Van de giraffe generators, Tesla coils, the air powered moon lander thing and a few others would be fun.
 
Mad Mike said:
The existing science centre is past its due date. Many of the exhibits are stale, old, or irrelevant, and haven't been updated in a long time.

Science and tech have advanced faster than the OSC. Hard to capture the interest of visitors accustomed to modern digital interactions with stuff dreamt up in the 60s.

Teaching has changed, watching movies and presentations has been replaced with interactive and immersive experiences in modern science museums, which is sorely lacking in the Ontario Science Centre.

If we’re going to have a science museum, it should be World Class, like the ones in San Fran, Washington, Chicago, London, Munich, Paris or Tokyo.

The current Science Centre itself is old and outdated. Amenities, accessibility features, and location are not at current standards or visitor expectations.

Kill it or reimagine it. Relocate it into Toronto’s core, not a sleepy suburb
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Not sure if you're the target audience. When we asked our twin 6yr olds what they wanted to do this summer first thing out of their mouth was Science Centre. Literally started crying 2 days later when they overheard me tell my wife that it's going to be closed. Some of the stuff shows some where and tear but the fundamentals of science hasn't changed the much in the last 40 years. I can't actually think of one thing that is irrelevant.

My only complaint from last year was how packed it was. (on a Tuesday) I never remember it being that busy when I was younger. My kids definitely missed out due to being taught manners (waiting their turn, etc.) and just not being able to get past all of the ******* kids.
 
woot said:
Not sure if you're the target audience. When we asked our twin 6yr olds what they wanted to do this summer first thing out of their mouth was Science Centre. Literally started crying 2 days later when they overheard me tell my wife that it's going to be closed. Some of the stuff shows some where and tear but the fundamentals of science hasn't changed the much in the last 40 years. I can't actually think of one thing that is irrelevant.

My only complaint from last year was how packed it was. (on a Tuesday) I never remember it being that busy when I was younger. My kids definitely missed out due to being taught manners (waiting their turn, etc.) and just not being able to get past all of the ******* kids.
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That’s a relative thing. When my kids were in grade school, the visited the Exploratorium and Smithsonian, as they were close by. I was excited to take them to the Ontario Science centre, they loved it when they were 8. They have never been back, but rave about their adult revisits to the other two.

Kids are easy to entertain. I’ll bet you could go to Disney for a week, they will be just as excited about going to the carnival at the Alliston Potato Festival .
 
Mad Mike said:
That’s a relative thing. When my kids were in grade school, the visited the Exploratorium and Smithsonian, as they were close by. I was excited to take them to the Ontario Science centre, they loved it when they were 8. They have never been back, but rave about their adult revisits to the other two.

Kids are easy to entertain. I’ll bet you could go to Disney for a week, they will be just as excited about going to the carnival at the Alliston Potato Festival .
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Smithsonian is worth the trip to DC alone, 100%
 
We got a Toronto City pass for our honeymoon, and the Science Center was my favourite stop. Kyle's was Ripleys Aquarium. We also did CN Tower, ROM and Casa Loma.

So I'm kind of bummed about it closing. I liked trying to land softly like a cat and going through the sports section. I am easily entertained like a kid, so that might be why I like it 😅
 
Amazon said:
We got a Toronto City pass for our honeymoon, and the Science Center was my favourite stop. Kyle's was Ripleys Aquarium. We also did CN Tower, ROM and Casa Loma.

So I'm kind of bummed about it closing. I liked trying to land softly like a cat and going through the sports section. I am easily entertained like a kid, so that might be why I like it 😅
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Do all kids like their faces glued to a screen or does it just seem like it because the adults are brain washed into thinking so, with the result being all gifts being battery operated.

A friend commented that his family liked him having a Harley because it made him easy to shop for. Birthdays, Christmas, anniversaries, father's day etc. Buy him anything with a HD logo on it. Tee shirts, mugs, calendars, belt buckles, posters, pens etc.
 
I am suspicious of reports generated by consulting firms that would push demolition and build new over a repair.

Which one has the potential of greater fees? Hmmmm
 
RFP is out for temporary space for science center. Looking for 50-100k sq ft. Existing science center is 142K sq ft of exibit space in in a 540K-570K square foot building (sources differ in total sq ft). Holy crap. I didn't realize it was that big nor so ridiculously underutilized.


toronto.citynews.ca

Province wants smaller interim space for Ontario Science Centre

The province is looking for an interim home after the current site at Don Mills Road and Eglinton Avenue East was abruptly closed last week.
toronto.citynews.ca toronto.citynews.ca
 
bitzz said:
The company that originally built the roof at the Science Center say the roof is fixable.

I had never heard of aerated concrete before.
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Anything is fixable with enough money.

I haven't heard a peep of any plan from any government or staff to effectively utilize the space. Over 400k sq ft of space not exposed to the public costs a fortune with minimal public benefit and that will never improve without a concerted effort (and may not be possible to improve substantially depending on layout).
 
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