Ontario Place
I remember being so bitter when it closed. I had some great memories there as a kid: flying down the water slides, pelting strangers in Atom Blaster, being convinced that ice cream helped cure tummy aches… the point is, there really aren’t many places like it. Like most of my friends we thought that we were going to miss it, but that was before I knew I would go back for at least a dozen unsanctioned visits.
The first time I was maybe fourteen. I biked past and stopped to look through the slits in the main gate. I stood there with my hands on the metal bars imagining what had become of the park. Was it all weedy and decrepit? Did it look like something out of the Walking Dead? After a moment of hesitation, I leaped over the bars and scurried across the bridge. Scared out of my mind, I left as quickly as I came in. But the following week I convinced a friend to head back and engage in some degeneracy. Same procedure: hide bikes, hop fence, sprint across the kill zone, and find hiding spot. As all goes well, you get more confident and begin to inch deeper and deeper into the unknown. Mini putt? Check. Water park? Check. Water slides? Check. We eventually covered the entire outdoor complex. Weedy, dilapidated, and flooded, but practically unchanged since it closed.
This set of photos is an attempt at giving a snapshot of what Ontario Place looks like from outside the velvet ropes. Taken from just a handful of the adventures from the past eight years, the quality and distribution of photos is highly diverse: some were taken when I was quite literally brand new to the hobby, while others are the culmination of hundreds of infiltrations. In that way, this is a highly personal page of work that also chronicles my journey as a photographer. It is incomplete and will be updated in due time.
As recently as 2021, advocacy groups are pitched against the Government of Ontario with choosing the future of this iconic venue - a casino and condos on the one hand, nature center and public park on the other. As these projects unfold (or, rather don’t) I will continue to visit, climb, and explore all the wonderful nooks and crannies that this place has to offer. No disclaimer. Please do try this one at home!
