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Ontario Place partially shut down for overhaul as government mulls casino on site

Millions of people, tourists and locals, have visited Ontario Place since the Toronto waterfront complex opened in the spring of 1971, featuring the world's first IMAX theatre.

Now as much of the aging theme park closes for renovations, its owner the Ontario government is floating the idea of including a casino in the five-year overhaul, the Globe and Mail reported Wednesday.

The Globe said the Liberal government has asked former Ontario Progressive Conservative leader John Tory to head a panel looking at ways to generate more revenue from the fading attraction, including a casino.

"We're not ruling anything in or out, and the government hasn't ruled anything in or out either," Tory told a media scrum at the Ontario legislature Wednesday.

Just hours earlier the government announced it is closing the orb-shaped IMAX Cinesphere, the water park and amusement rides at Ontario Place, effective immediately.

While not ruling out a casino, Tory made it clear he wasn't enthusiastic about setting up another gambling venue.

Governments everywhere view gaming as a welcome source of revenue but critics see them as hubs for criminal activity and social problems related to gambling addiction.

The Globe previously reported the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. was pushing for a casino in downtown Toronto. Councillor Doug Ford, a close adviser to his brother, Mayor Rob Ford, said the city would support a casino as long as the public was behind it.

Tory said whatever the province builds should enrich Toronto's "social and cultural fabric."

Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan told the news conference the province, dealing with a $16-billion deficit this year, can't afford to keep sinking money into Ontario Place at an annual rate of about $20 million a year.

Duncan said he's open to the idea of a casino as a new source of revenue but was awaiting results of a strategic review of the gaming corporation's operations.

In a notice on its web site, Ontario Place said the Molson Amphitheatre, Atlantis restaurant, the event pavilion, marina and parking lot will remain open during the renovations. The site would also be available during the 2015 Pan-Am Games.

Work would be completed in 2017, in time for Canada's 150th anniversary celebrations.