Citizens may have lost access to most of Ontario Place in recent months, but they do still have access to the giant fences surrounding the public green space, which they are now using to express their feelings about its contended redevelopment.

In its attempts to keep the public out (and, some feel, to hide what is taking place on the property), the province suddenly erected a reinforced wooden wall around the perimeter of part of the lot in the fall, sparking further outrage about the forthcoming project that Doug Ford and his team insist on pushing on with despite public backlash.

A sad sight to see. Ontario place should be a place for all to enjoy and protected urban green space. How this government has no transparency or accountability is beyond me. #ontpoli #OntarioPlace pic.twitter.com/qRoG7yAyLV

— Meg S (she/her) (@meganksimpson) January 22, 2024

Though it isn't the first barrier that appeared without notice to bar residents from the site, it is bigger and more obstructive than the fences put up in the summer and even earlier this month.

And, being made of plywood, it has served as the perfect canvas for people's protests about what's going on behind it.

It seems that almost as soon as the barricade popped up in late October, those opposed to the province's plan for the 155-acre waterfront lands — once home to the booming Ontario Place amusement park that has been shuttered for more than a decade — have been covering it with drawings, messages and more.

Posts from the toronto
community on Reddit

While workers have been dispatched to paint over the doodles multiple times, their efforts have just served to create an even better background for advocates, who are now using chalk on the black paint.

On a jaunt past the fence running along Lake Shore Blvd., passersby will see messages like "access to the water for all," "axe the spa," "save the trees" and "go away Therme," among others to Premier Doug Ford and Therme Canada, the private entity building what people have deemed a "megaspa" (which will come with a mega parking garage) at Ontario Place.

They can erase our chalk but they can’t erase Ontarians’ concern with the destruction of Ontario Place’s West Island to facilitate a taxpayer funded MegaSpa! #SaveOntarioPlace #topoli #onpoli pic.twitter.com/brvwaS1OSt

— Ontario Place for All © (@ONPlace4All) January 23, 2024

Many of the scrawls are very specific in their scathing denouncement of Ford and his perceived corruption, with one person writing "Will Therme execs be invited to the next wedding?" The dig is, of course, a reference to how developers who stood to benefit from Ford's Greenbelt scandal were present at his daughter's stag-and-doe party.

Another drew a bulldozer tearing down trees, the person inside labelled "Ford" while the bucket was labelled "Therme." "Corrupt Tax $$$ Theft," it said, while another against the spa wrote "nature is free wellness" underneath.

We rallied to Save Ontario Place because the fight is not over!

The walls erected to keep the public out turned into a canvas for political art, with expressions of how people truly feel about giving a private company our public lands for 95 years for a luxury spa. #OntarioPlace pic.twitter.com/jPQ3laGwbb

— Bhutila Karpoche (@BhutilaKarpoche) December 17, 2023

Others noted the $650 million being spent on the facility and its parking garage, which necessitates the removal of some 850 trees, plus other local flora that serve as crucial natural habitat.

Highlighting the wildlife, plant life, and public land at risk seems to be the priority.

Just a sampling of some of the messages constituents have written on the fencing surrounding Ontario Place to show their displeasure with the site's redevelopment. Photo submitted to blogTO by Francesca Bouaoun.

In one of many recent Reddit posts about the wall, one resident asked everyone to "remember that [the Province] exempted themselves from the environmental assessment process so they could avoid protecting species at risk. Ford is an evil killer of wildlife."

Another urged people to "please keep these f***ers busy and put the chalk art back up," while some joked that a worker shown removing another round of drawings and missives may have been Ford himself.

Ontario Place.
byu/japanistan500 intoronto

While the public's appeals against the redevelopment may feel hopeless at times, the pushback has made at least a bit of difference when it prompted Therme to amend its original blueprints late last year to make its main building smaller and free outdoor space, bigger.

And, even if it doesn't spur any change, the gallery now serving as Toronto's version of the Berlin Wall is at least bringing people together to publicly air their grievances about our leadership and this project.