Province reveals details of multi-million dollar, 95-year Therme lease at Ontario Place

The Austrian company building a spa where Ontario Place used to sit will be spending $700 million to construct its new facilities and parkland on Toronto's waterfront, the province revealed Thursday. 

Of those initial spends, $500 million will be to build Therme's facility, while $200 million will be spent on shoreline work and a public park, according to documents shared during a provincial technical briefing Thursday.

Over the course of the 95-year lease, Therme Canada is expected to spend $1.96 billion in both rent and maintenance payments to the government.

The technical briefing documents say the government will be on the hook for up to $25 million as the result of site readiness obligations like flood mitigation and shoreline repair. But Michael Lindsay, CEO of Infrastructure Ontario, told reporters that the lease "doesn't detail in any way" the total amount of money that has to be spent by the province.

Asked what the taxpayer bill amounts to, Lindsay said it was subject to finalization.

"But I can tell you that, yes, to date hundreds of millions have been spent in respect of site servicing at Ontario Place," he said.

The documents say the province will not be providing an operating subsidy or spending any money on the capital costs of construction. 

Therme will be constructing a water park and "wellbeing destination" on the land, as well as a 16 acre public park.

While the lease is nearly a century long, the province is able to get out of it early. After 10 years, Ontario can terminate the lease with five years notice. 

Province must supply 1,800 parking spaces

The province will be responsible for providing parking for the facility. The lease includes a requirement that 1,800 parking spaces be constructed as part of the project, though the documents note the province would like to see 2,500 spaces.

A price tag hasn't been determined yet, according to Lindsay. He also said the location of the parking lot, whether it will be above ground or underground, has yet to be decided.

Premier Doug Ford has agreed, in a deal with the City of Toronto, to consider moving the parking to nearby Exhibition Place, rather than in a garage under the new Ontario Science Centre.

If the province can't construct the required number of spots by 2030, or by the time the facility opens, then Ontario has to pay Therme damages, specifically $5 per day per unfinished space.

Tree cutting at Ontario Place overnight

Norm Di Pasquale, co-chair of Ontario Place for All, said the province's commitment to build parking spaces for the development is a great deal for Therme, but a bad deal for tax payers. 

He said the timing of the lease's release coincides with trees being cut down at the project site.

"It is absolutely heartbreaking," he said of the work. 

Lindsay said the province has always been transparent about the fact that trees would have to come down to revitalize the space. He said all trees will be replaced at a two-to-one ratio, while mature trees will be replaced at a six-to-one ratio.

"We know that the species at risk, which we were concerned about, birds and bats, are no longer in their nesting season," Lindsay said about the timing of the work. 

Even though the trees are being replaced, Di Pasquale is not satisfied with the solution. He said there are trees as old as 50 at Ontario Place, so the replacements will have to survive a long time to reach their stature. 

"It's very hard to grow trees in an urban setting and it is twice as hard to grow them in a waterfront setting where they're constantly being battered by the elements," he said.