A woman waits outside the new temporary pop-up Ontario Science Centre located in Sherway Gardens mall in Toronto, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan DenetteThe timeline for opening a permanent newOntarioScienceCentreappears to have been delayed, with infrastructure officials telling the auditor generals office thecentreis expected to be up and running in 2029.When Premier Doug Ford announced last year the planned move for the attraction, from its east Toronto location to a redevelopedOntarioPlace on the citys waterfront, thesciencecentresaid the new facility would open in 2028.In June, when the government announced the abrupt closure of thesciencecentreover structural concerns with the roof, its press release said theOntarioPlace facility would open as early as 2028.Now, according to a report earlier this month from Ontarios auditor general Shelley Spence on theOntarioPlace redevelopment, the new building is expected to open in 2029.That information was provided to the auditor generals office by InfrastructureOntario, a spokesperson for the auditor said.Jason Ash, co-chair of the group Save OntariosScienceCentre, said its a shame that there will be no permanentOntarioScienceCentrefor at least an extra year.Its really a whole generation ofOntariochildren who are not going to have access to world-classscienceeducation that theOntarioScienceCentrehas provided for 55 years, he said.Simply put, theOntarioScienceCentrewas unique in that the majority of its business actually came from Ontarians, with tourism coming in second place. SoOntariokids arent being served and tourists are not going to get a great experience either in the meantime.Two requests for comment from Infrastructure Minister Kinga Surma went unanswered, with a spokesperson ultimately replying to a third by saying she would not be responding.Due to the request submitted by the Leader of the Official Opposition to the Integrity Commissioner on October 16th, 2024, Minister Kinga Surma has been asked not to comment and will respect the process at this time, Ash Milton wrote.Miltons reply came after Surma answered at least a dozen questions in question period on the auditor generalsOntarioPlace redevelopment findings.NDP Leader Marit Stiles integrity complaint focused largely on terms and negotiations that led to a 95-year lease for Therme to build and operate a spa and waterpark atOntarioPlace, but also alleges irregularities with the plan to relocate thesciencecentre.Stiles suggests, based on information previously uncovered last year by the auditor general, that the government wanted to have thesciencecentreatOntarioPlace and integrate parking promised to Therme with thesciencecentrebuilding in order to dispel public concerns over the project.This is yet another expensive project that nobody asked for with a plan that no one is buying, Stiles wrote in a statement this week.We could have revitalized the existingScienceCentrefor a fraction the cost. Ford and Surma boasted about the newScienceCentreopening in 2028, but that sounds like more false promises from a flailing government.A spokesperson for InfrastructureOntariosaid the procurement process for the newcentrecontinues, with the request for proposals stage expected to wrap up next fall.A firm date for the completion of construction will be posted once a contract is awarded, and the opening date will depend on the centres timeline for moving into the new building, Karen Evans said in an email.The overall plan for delivering the vision remains unchanged, she said.That audit found that it will now cost more for the government to build a newOntarioScienceCentreatOntarioPlace than it would have to maintain the site it abruptly closed earlier this year.The cost estimate for building and maintaining a newsciencecentreatOntarioPlace has increased by nearly $400 million from the governments spring 2023 business case for relocating it, the auditor said, meaning it will cost approximately $1.4 billion higher than the $1.3-billion estimate for maintaining the attraction at its east Toronto location.The increase is due to higher design and construction costs, life cycle and maintenance costs, and ancillary costs that have added up because of changes to the scope of the planned building and about $61 million in cost escalations, Spence wrote.Michael Lindsay, at the time the president and CEO of InfrastructureOntario, said he didnt agree that building a newsciencecentrewill cost more than rehabilitating the old one, noting that project would also be facing inflationary price increases.Lindsay provided some reasoning for possible delays in a briefing on the day thesciencecentrewas closed.The language (of as early as 2028) probably just reflects the realities of procurement and construction, he said.Were going to be talking to our counterparties through the procurement about what it would take to construct a newsciencecentre, how long that might be, and so I think the plan remains the plan. That language probably just points at the reality that further conversation with our market is coming about what its going to take to both procure and then build the newsciencecentre.Ontariois planning to have a temporarysciencecentreopen in the interim, but has not provided any public updates on that process since it issued a request for proposals in June.That RFP showed the province is looking for retail or commercial space of about 50,000 to 100,000 square feet much smaller than the original buildings 568,000 square feet with a start date of no later than Jan. 1, 2026.The RFP also showed that the province wants a lease of up to five years for the temporary space, plus three options to extend the lease for one year each, which would allow the government to operate asciencecentrein a temporary home until 2034, Ash said.Thesciencecentreis currently operating two pop-up exhibits at HarbourfrontCentreand the Sherway Gardens mall in Toronto.The post New Ontario Science Centre at Ontario Place to open in 2029, auditor general says appeared first on Canadian Architect.