Zurich Citizens News, 1971-04-15, Page 9PAIGE TEN
ZURICH CITIZENS NEWS THURSDAY, APRIL 15, 1971
Ontario Place to Open Soon
Less than two years ago there
was only water, but now on
Lake Ontario, south of Toronto's
Canadian National Exhibition
grounds, there looms the 96 -
acre Ontario Place complex.
Today, passersby can see the
space-age silhouette of the five -
pod Ontario Place pavilion, the
domed Cinesphere theatre, and
the 46 acres of landscaped man-
made islands that constitute the
new exhibition showcase of the
province and its people. It opens
officially May 22.
The daring proposal of creating
this entirely new Government
of Ontario complex on the Toron-
to waterfront was first announced
on August 16, 1968, by Prime
Minister John Robarts, when he
officially opened that year's
Canadian National Exhibition.
It would, he said, "utilize the
natural setting of the waterfront,
modern structural designs, and
attempt to create the mood of
gaiety and openness which help-
ed make so popular the Ontario
Government pavilion at Expo '67
"We would hope that the
creation of this Government
complex would be the impetus
required to inspire other develop-
ments along the entire Metro
Toronto waterfront, " he stated.
The vision began its transfor-
mation into reality on March
17, 1969, when construction
started on the complex on the
lake. To create the two man-
made islands at Ontario Place,
more than 2, 500, 00 cubic yards
of fill were needed, with as
many as 1, 800 truckloads of fill
being dumped each day. by
opening day, almost 30, 000
trees, shrubs and plants will be
in the ground; 17 acres of grass
will have been sodded; 3.4 mile:
of pathways will have been
constructed; almost half a mile
of beaches will be graded and
contoured. Then the east and
west islands of Ontario Place will
be ready for the people of Ont-
ario, May 22.
The West island of Ontario
Place is visually. dominated by
Cinesphere, a triodetic, dome-
shaped theatre. One of the most
advanced theatres in the world,
it uses a giant 60 x 80 foot
screen, a projection capability
which ranges from 16 mm.1
through 35, and 70 mm., to
the giant, Ontario -developed
"Imax" projection system
which fills the entire screen,
and a 24 -track stereophonic soup('
system with 55 speakers.
Four major new films showing
the people and places of various
parts of the province will be
shown. Three of these, dealing
with northwestern Ontario, east-
ern Ontario and the Ontario wat-
erways, have been filmed and
are now in the editing stage.
Shooting is now being completed
on the fourth film, featuring
north -central Ontario. In addition
Academy -Award winning Christ-
opher Chapman's new multiple -
image film on Ontario, highly -
praised at Osaka's Expo 70, will
have its first North American
public showings at Ontario Place's
C inesphere.
The east island is the location
of the Forum, an 8, 000 capacity
outdoor amphitheatre. Here
visitors will see daily programs
of live performances. The
emphasis will be on Ontario
and other Canadian entertainers
and groups, including concerts
by the Toronto Symphony Orch-
estra, folk dancing, pop and
rock music, and other events.
A province -wide amateur talent
hunt is now under way, to
provide opportunities on stage
at The Forum for aspiring perf-
ormers from all aver Ontario.
Both islands willhave gaily -
coloured clusters of restaurants,
snack bars and boutiques, as
well as ample picnic areas and
beaches. To welcome sailing
visitors to Ontario Place there
will be one of the largest, most
modern and best -equipped marin-
as on the Great Lakes. Final
dock assembly is slated for the
spring. It will have 302 slips in
fivevarying sizes, accommod-
ating boats up to 60 feet in
length. Alongside the marina is
a seafood restaurant and a sailor's
pub. Adding to the nautical
flavor at Ontario Place, two
distinguished ships will use the
site as "home port" --the brigant-'
ine Pathfinder and the World War
II destroyer Haida, a veteran
of the Murmansk run and of ser-
vice with the United Nations
in Korea.
Rising spectacularly between
the east and west islands is the
Ontario Place Pavilion, dramat-
ically designed with five modu-
lar units, or "pods, " suspended
above Lake Ontario from 105 -
foot -high steel columns. In four
of the five pods, a mixed -media
exhibition tells the story of
Ontario and its people.
Entering the Pavilion on a two-
tiered walkway, the visitor first
encounters the Welcome Wall,
a huge spider -like structure of
stainless steel which is an inf-
ormation centreS'staffed by
Ontario university students acting
as hosts and hostesses.
In the same exhibit pod is
"Genesis, " a total -environment
exhibit using three-dimensional
film and sound. Here the visitor
"eye -witnesses" the actual for-
mation of the part of the earth
that is now Ontario, sees its
rivers, lakes, forests and plains
being formed. In the next pod,
called "Explosions, " the viewer
is surrounded by a spectacular
total audio-visual environment,
He experiences 300 years of Ont-
ario's economic growth, sees
the sights and hears the sounds
of Ontario's development. At
one point, he will feel that he is
actually riding in a train, as the
railway's influence is depicted.
The exhibit traces events right up
to today's "age of technology"
with new advanced industries,
electronics, rapid communicat-
ions system and new processes of
power production that is enjoyed
in today's Ontario.
The next pod cpntains "Ont-
ario Style." Here through the
use of unique mixed -media, the
visitor becomes an actual part
of the times he is seeing. To
move through the exhibit he must
walk between and push past infl-
ated human -size forms on which
are projected live images repres-
enting soldiers, settlers, Indians,
historical figures. At one point,
he literally walks through and
is part of battles in the Seven
Years' War and the War of 1812.
The last pod is "Challenges"
which through artifacts and int-
eresting objects examines Ont-
ario's cultural identity, educat-
ion, leisure time, growth and
preservation of the environment.
The exhibit shows how Ontario
has met the challenges of the
past and can meet them in the
future.
The challenges of youth prov-
ides a look at Ontario through
the eyes of the young: 288 three-
minute color films made espec-
ially for Ontario Place by elem-
entary and high school students
from different parts of the prov-
ince depict the cities, towns and
villages in which they live. Each
film can be pre -selected for
viewing. As a finale to the ex-
hibit, the visitor sees a film
about Ontario and its children,
with a cast that includes as
many as 35, 000 school children
from all over the province.
One of the pods, namely numb-
er two, devoted to three restaur-
ants, a licensed lounge and
banquet facilities, in addition
to an outdoor refreshment and
snack garden with a view, on
the roof of ,the structure. The
roofs of all five pods of the Pav-
ilion may be used as observation
areas by visitors, providing a
delightful panorama of the entire
site, as well as of the Toronto
skyline and Lake Ontario.
Ontario Place opens officially
May 22, It will be open seven
days a week, from 10 a.m. till
midnight,
Model shows how Ontario Place will look to its visitors this
summer. Center are the five -module pavilion, domed theatre
and marina. To the left, ultra -modern restaurants and entertain -
meat facilities. And, right, the 8, 000 -seat amphitheatre,
children's play area and cluster of restaurants, snack shops and
boutiques. Also shown is one of two bridges to mainland.
Sailor's -eye view of one of the five giant pods which make
up Ontario Place Pavilion. 300 -foot, two level bridge (foreground)
leads into first exhibit pod. 800 -seat triodetic domed theatre,
Cinesphere, can be seen in background. Ontario Place, 96 -acre
complex in Lake Ontario, south of Toronto's Canadian National
Exhibition grounds, officially opens May 22.
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