East-end rally held to protest closure

200 residents, politicians unite against move

- ISABEL TEOTONIO

A crowd of about 200 community members, joined by local and provincial politicians, attended a rally Sunday afternoon in an east-end park to protest last month’s sudden closure of the Ontario Science Centre and its planned relocation.

Many waved placards critical of Premier Doug Ford for closing the nearby Don Mills Road facility after engineers found structural concerns with its crumbling roof and other urgently needed repairs, and chanted “Shame” and “Fix the roof.”

Floyd Ruskin of Save Ontario’s Science Centre, a grassroots group that organized the event in Ferrand Drive Park, took aim at the premier for calling it “decrepit” and saying it would cost half a billion dollars to fix.

“Does it need work? Of course it does,” said Ruskin of the 55-yearold building. “With a 15-year history of deferred maintenance, the bill runs up. But it’s certainly not $500 million … That’s a scare tactic … There’s no reason why those doors can’t be opened today.”