Plans afoot for downtown aquarium.
The 150,000 square foot Ripley's Aquarium of Canada, to be located at the base of the CN Tower, could be the first new tourist destination built in Toronto in more than 15 years.
Illustration/COURTESY
Toronto may be home to a new 150,000 square foot aquarium at the base of the CN Tower if a proposed partnership between the Canada Lands Company (CLC) and Ripley's Entertainment comes to fruition.
The two sides have been discussing an agreement that would see Canada Lands lease a portion of the five-acre site that houses the landmark tower to Ripley's, with the entertainment company footing the bill for the aquarium.
Canada Lands would be responsible for upgrades to the surrounding area to make the entire site, including the CN Tower, more inviting and accessible.
While plans for a Toronto aquarium have been discussed in the past, those discussions have never led anywhere. With CLC and Ripley's closing in on a deal, the current proposal has made it further than other plans.
CLC spokesperson Gordon McIvor said the deal would benefit both sides and would be a boon to the city's stagnating tourist industry.
"Toronto has really not had any new tourist facilities in the last 17 years (since the Hockey Hall of Fame opened)," he said.
McIvor said building the aquarium near the CN Tower would help both facilities in terms of attracting tourists and would help rejuvenate the downtown core.
"(The CN Tower) is the most trafficked tourist area in the country, at least in terms of man-made attractions, so you already have people in the area," he said. "It really has become Canada's icon internationally, along with the Niagara Falls and the Rocky Mountains. Will (an aquarium) enhance the business of the CN Tower? You bet."
He said Ripley's made for an ideal partner, having an extensive history of building world-class aquariums in the United States in addition to dozens of other tourist attractions.
While the plan is in its infant stages - it went before Toronto and East York Community Council for a preliminary reading on Tuesday, Jan. 12 - it will likely take the form of a 100,000 square foot aquarium at first, with an additional 50,000 square feet of aquarium space added in a second phase.
Additional retail and entertainment space would bring the entire facility to 193,750 square feet, with considerably more aquatic space than the 100,000 square foot Vancouver Aquarium.
Ripley's spokesperson Tim O'Brien said the proposed facility, coupled with the already-popular CN Tower, would help boost tourism in the downtown core.
"It's a great location, right in a tourist hub," he said. "It will bring another option for families and bring about a critical mass of people coming down to that area."
The aquarium would also provide educational opportunities, creating a downtown destination for schools throughout the GTA where students can learn about marine life and conservation.
"Kids can learn while they're having fun, which is what (Ripley's is) all about," he said.
There has been little discussion at this point as to what sorts of marine life would inhabit the tanks, but both CLC and Ripley's are optimistic the plan will gain enough approval to allow those discussions to take place in time.
"We're really comfortable with the project," O'Brien said. "It's really something that will fit in that space."
McIvor agreed, saying the two sides were close to reaching a deal to allow the proposal to make more progress.
"We hope to be able to, in the very near future, announce this is definitively going forward," he said.
On Tuesday, the Toronto and East York Community Council sent the proposal out for public consultation.
Local councillor Adam Vaughan said from a pure planning perspective, the aquarium seems to make a lot of sense.
"As a planning application, a tourist facility down there with that height and scale has to be processed and we'll do that," he said. "And as a tourist facility, I think it's a good fit. I think it reinforces the precint's attractions. It's a tourist destination built at the waterfront - and with the John Street revitalization moving forward, it's a welcome addition to the area."
Vaughan said he had also received calls from advocates worried about the ethical issues surrounding live aquariums. But he said the fact that the aquarium seems to be excluding marine mammals has placated some of those worries.
"I appreciate that there are issues around aquariums, and you know, those issues will come up and be debated as a part of that process," he said. "But within the planning act we're dealing with an application for a building with a land use that is not entirely unforeseen."
-with files from David Nickle