The Ford government has awarded a $198-million contract to design and build its new above-ground parking structure at Ontario Place.
The new five-storey building will include 3,500 parking spots and 680 electric vehicle charging stations, and the government hopes it will charge visitors enough to generate $60 million in revenue every year.
“Today’s contract award reaffirms our government’s position, under the leadership of Premier Ford, that this parking garage, which will produce revenue for the province, can and will be built at a cost that is reasonable and respectful to taxpayers,” Tourism, Culture and Gaming Minister Stan Cho said in a statement.
Pomerleau Inc., a Canadian company, will design and build the parking garage near Ontario Place on Toronto’s waterfront, a structure that was at one point envisaged to be underground.
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Before the location and broad design were settled on last year, the province had briefly considered moving the parking structure northwards to Exhibition Place to avoid blocking waterfront views.
Premier Doug Ford had also mused about the benefits of an underground versus above-ground structure, weighing cost against the garage blocking people’s view of the iconic waterfront destination.
It is, however, bound by strict contractual obligations to the company that will build a nearby spa, which means it cannot move the parking more than 650 metres away from the site.
Ford said he hoped the garage would be a “revenue generator,” which provincial calculations predict could bring in $60 million in gross revenue once Ontario Place is at “full operation.”
The Ontario Place redevelopment will bring a new concert venue and parkland to the waterfront, alongside a new science centre and a private spa and waterpark operated by Austrian company Therme.
The deal Therme landed was a 95-year lease with the government to run its private business on public land and included expensive cancellation or late delivery penalties for the province.
Questions were also raised about the unusual bidding process implemented for the redevelopment and the commitment Ontario has made to build parking spots for the facility. The government is set to spend more than $2 billion to help get the spa underway.
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