Inside the fight to save the Ontario Science Centre

In today’s The Big Story podcast, first the Ontario Science Centre was to be moved in a year or two, and that was enough to spark a protest movement to keep the iconic building designed by a renowned architect right where it was. Then, out of nowhere, it was simply closed for good, with Ontario’s government citing a report that the roof would pose a danger in winter.

In the wake of its sudden closure, there have been offers of private donations to fix the roof, the architectural firm that designed it has offered to lead those repairs and thousands of citizens have rallied to try and change the province’s mind.

Aidan Chamandy is a political reporter whose written about the Science Center closure for The Trillium. “What [the government] are saying is, ‘if we were to fix these roofing panels that are at risk of immediate collapse, we would want to do it as part of a larger effort to fix all of the roofs, that would take anywhere from 22-40 million dollars, would require the Science Centre to close, and that’s not really a path we want to take, so we’re just going to close it for now,'” says Chamandy.   

Why did the Science Centre close so suddenly? Where will it live next? And who profits from that?

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