In Part 1 of this series analyzing the Auditor Generals 2024 report on the Ontario Place Redevelopment, I broke down how the project has gone from costing the public $400 million to involving over $2.2 billion in taxpayer dollars.Todays post concerns one of the biggest ticket items in that cost: the proposal for new parking at Ontario Place. I have titled the post the billion dollar question as the estimated cost of providing the parking required in the Provinces leases with Therme and Live Nation ranges from over $280-million to over $1.3 billion dollars.The signed lease with Therme requires that the Province will construct 1,600 parking spots for Therme within 650 metres from Thermes entrance. The Auditor Generals report notes that the Province has also agreed to make 1,200 spots available to Live Nation, within 750 metres of its entrance. There is some overlap between the spotsseveral hundred of the Therme spots will be ceded to Live Nation on concert nightsbut overall, the Province has agreed to build a 1,800 spot parkade.Back in 2021, the plan was to create a five-storey underground parkade on the south side of Lakeshore Boulevard, up against Lake Ontario, with the relocated Ontario Science Centre on top of it. In fact, as the Auditor General noted last year, the relocation of the Ontario Science Centre itself was presented to key decision-makers as primarily to justify this site-wide parking solution.Information from the Auditor Generals report points to the probable demolition of the Better Living Centre at the CNE to fulfill lease obligations to Ontario Place tenants Therme and Live Nation.We have now learned that Infrastructure Ontarios total capital cost for a five-storey underground parkade, beneath the half-sized Science Centre, is over $1.3 billion. Value-engineering this to a four-storey parkade would still cost $975 million.Infrastructure Ontario has, due to these high costs, turned to examining options for parking at Exhibition Place, across the street. The Rebuilding Ontario Place Act, passed as part of the New Deal for Toronto, gives the Province broad range to extract lands from the City that would enable the Ontario Place redevelopment, and parking arguable falls within this scope.There are two large existing surface lots on the south side of Exhibition Placeone just south of BMO Field, and one southeast of BMO field. The southeast lot has been approved for redevelopment as a 7,000-seat e-sports stadium, developed by OverActive Media and designed by Populous, making it an unsuitable candidate for a new parking facility.The parking lot directly south of BMO field is key to Exhibition Places marquis event, the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE)it houses the entirety of the midwayas well as being key to the IndyCar Series (formerly the Molson Indy), during which it houses grandstands, general viewing areas, and vendors. It is also a key staging and parking area for other conferences and events held at Exhibition Place. Therefore, any new parking on this site would need to be below-ground. Infrastructure has estimated the cost of a two-storey underground parkade here, providing some 2,125 spots, at over $800 million.Infrastructure Ontario currently has two recommended options, which are less costly, to fulfill its parking obligations. The first is a four-storey above-ground parkade at Exhibition Place. Alternatively, they suggest a single parking level below the new Ontario Science Centre, paired with a three-level above-ground parkade at Exhibition Place. These options are priced, respectively, at over $280 million, and over $400 million.While no site is specified in the documents, I have spoken to several experts familiar with Exhibition Place who conclude that the only feasible site for an above-ground parking structure would entail the demolition of Better Living Centre, a modernist structure designed by Marani, Morris & Allan in 1962.The Auditor Generals report does note that the Province would own the parking garage, and would therefore also collect revenues for it. Financially, the parking structure would be expected to break even in 28-35 years. But, other investmentssuch as in healthcare, education, and affordable housingalso involve spending money now, and expecting net financial benefits in the future (such as from the quantifiable benefits of a healthier and more educated population, better able to be productive members of society). Does investing hundreds of millions in a parkade make sense?It would be fair to also ask whether this substantial investment in parking makes sense given the proximity of Ontario Place to the expected terminus of the Ontario Linea major public transit nodeand the existing traffic congestion in this part of downtown Toronto. In short, Toronto drivers already know that Lakeshore Boulevard is a bumper-to-bumper traffic jam for most of the day. Does it really make sense to encourage an additional 1,800 people to drive to this area each day?The Auditor Generals Report, Part 1: The cost of privatizing Ontario PlaceThe post The Auditor Generals Report, Part 2: The billion dollar question of parking appeared first on Canadian Architect.