Premier Doug Ford, whose grandiose schemes for Toronto’s waterfront were thwarted when he was a city councillor and his brother was mayor, is setting his sights on redeveloping Ontario Place.Sources told the Star that Ford wants to scuttle proposals that were being considered by the previous Liberal government and start anew with an international competition to rethink the sprawling green space along Lake Shore Blvd. W.The premier, whose Progressive Conservatives toppled Kathleen Wynne’s Liberals in the June 7 election, signalled three weeks ago that changes were afoot.“Ontario Place was spectacular in the day,” Ford said at the Aug. 17 opening of the Canadian National Exhibition, which is adjacent to the provincially owned park.“I’m proud to announce we’re going to work in conjunction with the CNE, redo Ontario Place and make it the most spectacular destination anywhere in North America to visit,” he said.“We’ll bring it back to life.”Officials in his government were tight-lipped about what’s planned.“We will have more to say on Ontario Place in the future. Stay tuned,” said Richard Clark, a spokesman for Tourism, Culture, and Sport Minister Sylvia Jones.The Globe and Mail reported in July that plans for the redevelopment of the park were on hold during the transition from Wynne’s Liberals to Ford’s Tories.In July 2017, Wynne unveiled a new $30-million, 7.5-acre waterfront park on the site of what had been an Ontario Place parking lot.The Trillium Park, with its 1.3 km William G. Davis Trail, which was named for the premier who launched Ontario Place in 1971, was the beginning of a broader revitalization.Former premier Dalton McGuinty had shuttered much of Ontario Place in 2012 during an austerity push, saving $20 million by slashing 48 full-time jobs and 600 summer positions.McGuinty then conscripted John Tory, now the mayor of Toronto, to write a report on the futu ...
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