A revitalized Ontario Place is a few steps closer to reality, as construction has begun on a new waterfront park and trail on the site's east end.
The 7.5-acre expanse along Ontario Place's southeastern border is being developed by Urbacon, which won the contract tendered by Infrastructure Ontario.
Urbancon beat out four other contractors – Aldershot, Eastern Construction, Elite and PCL – who were shortlisted for the project.
"We're moving forward with our vision to revitalize Ontario Place into a world-class, year-round destination for people to enjoy and the selection of the winning contractor means we are one step closer," Tourism and Culture Minister Michael Coteau said in a statement Tuesday.
The park and trail project will transform a portion of the site most recently used for parking, providing public access to a section of Toronto's waterfront for the first time in more than 40 years. It will also link up to other waterfront trails in the GTA and southern Ontario, and has a target completion date of fall 2016.
The former Ontario Place theme park operated on the site four kilometres west of downtown Toronto from 1971 to 2011 on three artificially constructed landscaped islands. Currently, the site includes the Molson Canadian Amphitheatre, the Atlantis event site and a marina. Buildings include "pods" and a geodesic dome that was previously an IMAX theatre called Cinesphere.

Heard: Construction begins on Ontario Place waterfront park and trail

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