In the year since the abrupt closure of the Ontario Science Centre, the cost of a new site at Ontario Place has escalated, its opening date has been pushed back, there is no sign of a temporary location – and the old building’s roof that was said to be at risk of collapse appears to be intact.

Workers say they’ve dealt with a rodent and raccoon infestation at a building where science centre materials are stored, and the department that builds exhibits is at a virtual standstill. It’s been a year of demoralizing changes, they say.

Government officials announced midday on June 21, 2024, that the science centre at its original, east Toronto location would permanently close at the end of the day, citing an engineering report on the state of the building’s roof.

Critics have blasted the decision, noting that the report presented several options other than full closure, and have suggested the whole plan to move the science centre to a revamped Ontario Place was designed to lessen the heat a more controversial tenant — a waterpark and spa by European company Therme — has generated.

Infrastructure Minister Kinga Surma has said she did not want to jeopardize anyone’s safety with the science centre’s roof panels at risk of collapse.

The workers do not buy it.

Toronto set a weather record in 2024 with 1,145 millimetres of precipitation, which included two “once-in-a-century” storms that flooded thousands of homes last summer and the city’s snowiest winter in years.

“And the science centre is still standing,” said Raluca Ellis, the president of Local 549 of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union.

“It just seems like it was a manufactured crisis and that’s the biggest betrayal.”

NDP infrastructure critic Jennifer French also takes issue with stated reason for the closure.

“The roof managed to get through winter snow loads and a lot of rain this spring, and the only thing falling apart is the government’s plan for a new science centre,” she said.

The opening of the science centre at Ontario Place has already been pushed back from 2028 to 2029. A report from the auditor general late last year found that the cost estimate for building and maintaining the new science centre has increased by nearly $400 million from the government’s spring 2023 business case for relocating it.

Meanwhile, the government has said it will look for a space to house a temporary science centre until the new one opens. A request for proposals seeking a temporary location was released just days after the abrupt closure. It said the government was working “expeditiously” to find an interim site and wanted it to open no later than Jan. 1, 2026.

No such location has yet been announced, nearly one year later.

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Jason Ash, of the group Save Ontario’s Science Centre, said it is a shame children are missing out.

“The bottom line, one year out from the closure of the science centre on Don Mills Road, is that a generation of Ontario kids and youth are without a world-class institution to learn about STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education,” he said.

“Regardless of any of the other aspects that enter into the story … it’s a real failure of the government’s educational policy to have let down so many children.”

The science centre is currently operating two pop-up exhibits at Harbourfront Centre and the CF Sherway Gardens mall in Toronto, and has had staff and small exhibits at various events around the city.

As workers moved everything out of the old building last fall, one of the new storage locations presented a number of problems.

All of the science centre’s education materials were moved to a building by Highway 401 in Etobicoke. The building on Resources Road, which has become the science centre’s official mailing address, is used as a warehouse of sorts where workers can gather experiments and small exhibits and other goodies for their visits to classrooms.

That building had been vacant for more than a decade.

Problems began immediately, said four employees with knowledge of what’s been happening there. They asked not to be named for fear of repercussion.

They said workers discovered mouse, and possibly rat, excrement throughout the basement and on the second floor of the building. And there were also signs of a raccoon infestation, they said. The workers found droppings and little hand prints that suggested a raccoon, or a family of raccoons, was living in the building.

The building’s manager laid out “a ton” of rodent traps and one large raccoon trap after workers complained to science centre management, the sources said.

There was no running water for a time, with very few power outlets and reams of extension cord snaking throughout the area, they added. Workers also discovered asbestos in the building.

“The entire ordeal moving to Resources Road has been very frustrating,” said one worker.

“The topper was the mouse and raccoon s–t.”

The infestation was eventually fixed, the sources said, though it took months.

The science centre declined requests for interviews with management, saying no one was available. It referred questions about the problems with the building to Infrastructure Ontario, which did not respond to multiple questions from The Canadian Press by deadline.

The local union also declined to discuss problems at the building.

Ontario Science Centre CEO Paul Kortenaar pointed to ongoing pop-ups, special events and satellite locations for children to enjoy.

“Planning is underway for our new home at Ontario Place, with a competitive design process for our new flagship location on Toronto’s waterfront,” Kortenaar said in a statement.

Management is working on a 10-year master plan for the new science centre, he wrote.

“This work reflects our broader vision: we are reimagining what a science centre can be — not only a building, but a dynamic, provincewide platform for learning, discovery and connection.”

The connection between management and workers has frayed since the closure.

Working from home is not in the employees’ DNA, said Ellis, the Local 549 president.

“We are not working in ideal conditions and many ask why we put up with this and the answer is because we love the science centre, but ever since we were shut down, we’ve lost that essence of what the science centre is,” she said.

More than 20 union members have taken buyout packages over the past year, Ellis said, most due to the sudden change in job conditions.

And the hope that workers could reunite in person at a new interim location was recently dashed.

“They told me the timeline for the interim location has been changed, that the process has paused and we don’t know what the new timeline is,” Ellis said.

For union steward Martin Fischer, who works in the education department, the loss of the original building has been “heartbreaking.”

“It’s been extremely difficult,” said Fischer, who describes himself and many colleagues as neurodivergent.

“I’m somebody who needs a physical workplace, I thrived in the environment at the science centre, being with classes a few hours a day, it could be kindergarten, it could be a high school class, it’d be adult and then I’d maybe go talk to the shops to help design and build stuff for the school program, but that’s all gone now,” he said.

He still goes to schools for presentations, but he also spends a lot of time at home in front of his computer.

“It’s just not the same,” he said.

Melis Tokgoz, vice president of the local union and an exhibit designer at the science centre, said she too has struggled since the closure.

With the fabrication shop shuttered, there are far fewer designs to make, limited largely to the pop-up spots, she said. The science centre is looking at a few spots to restart designing and making exhibits for other science centres, but that work has largely stopped, Tokgoz said.

“We keep getting these reassurances that one day we’ll be back in the business of designing exhibits, but again, it is really hard to build that trust when you have no evidence otherwise,” she said.

That joie de vivre among employees is missing, she said. “There’s this sense of grief amongst many employees, missing what their jobs once were, missing the fulfilment, and I’m no different.”

“The energy has been sad and melancholic and a bit depressing the whole time.”

Doctors and health-care experts are warning Canadians to not only look after themselves but also check on others who could be vulnerable as large parts of central Canada face a sweltering heat wave.

Global News chief meteorologist Anthony Farnell says a large heat ridge or dome will build over the Ohio Valley in the U.S. and expand into southeastern Canada by the end of the weekend.

Temperatures are expected to reach the low to mid-30s C and the humidex could make that feel much higher, with humidex readings potentially into the mid-40s.

When heat hits those levels, the body has to work harder to keep itself cool.

“The hypothalamus acts as the thermostat and sends signals to the heart to start beating faster, sends signals to our body to breathe a little faster and that helps the blood flow to the extremities so that we can dissipate heat through radiant heat loss,” said Dr. Samantha Green, a family physician at Unity Health Toronto with expertise in climate change and health.

“It also sends signals so that we can cool down through evaporative cooling through sweating.”

Prolonged exposure to heat can impact the human body in a variety of ways.

One of the most common is heat exhaustion, which can lead to heat stroke.

Heat exhaustion is characterized by headache, dizziness, extreme thirst, heavy sweating, muscle cramps and nausea and vomiting, according to Health Canada, and people are advised to immediately move to a cool place and drink water if experiencing these symptoms.

If left untreated, that exhaustion can become heat stroke, which is defined by Johns Hopkins Medicine as the body being overwhelmed by excessive heat.

Those suffering from heat stroke often have an internal temperature of 40 C or higher, warm, dry skin, confusion and nausea, and it can lead to worse conditions, including seizures, coma and even death.

While people will keep an eye on the temperature, studies show that people should also be aware of the “wet bulb” temperature — when both humidity and air temperatures are high, it can be harder to shed heat and keep yourself cool.

A 2010 study found that a wet-bulb temperature of 35 C that lasts longer than six hours could cause serious health impacts or even death.

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A study in the Journal of Applied Physiology in 2022 found that at 100 per cent humidity, the threshold could be as low as 31 C, while at 38 C, just 60 per cent humidity could be too much for the body.

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If you are suffering from heat stroke or you notice someone with similar symptoms, move to a cool place to rest and call 911, as it is a life-threatening medical emergency.

“If you don’t feel well from the heat, seek medical attention or call 911. Don’t be afraid to ask for help,” said Caroline Metz, managing director of climate resilience and health at the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation at the University of Waterloo.

Vulnerable populations, such as youth and older adults or those with chronic conditions, may find it more difficult to beat the heat.

Nemours Children’s Health in the U.S. notes that children’s bodies are still developing and may sweat at a lower rate than adults and start sweating at a higher temperature, putting them more at risk of heat-related illness.

Older adults face higher risks as they may have trouble accessing cool spaces due to mobility or transportation challenges, and those living alone may be more vulnerable as a result, according to B.C. Interior Health.

Older adults, as well as other Canadians, may also have chronic underlying health conditions or be taking medication that could interfere with the body’s ability to stay cool.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that those with these conditions may be less likely to respond to changes in temperature, and that those with heart disease, mental illness and obesity have a higher risk of heat-related illness.

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“It’s also why people with chronic health conditions are more at risk of developing heat exhaustion, heat stroke, where the body’s natural cooling mechanisms break down and the core body temperature exceeds 40 degrees,” Green said.

“That’s where we end up with massive inflammation and failure of organs in the body.”

People taking chronic medications can also be affected. Green said beta blockers, for example, prevent the heart from beating faster in response to heat and keep the body from naturally being able to cool down.

It’s not just health conditions or age that can pose vulnerabilities, however.

“Anybody who’s working outside or people experiencing homelessness, they’re more exposed to heat and that’s a group or a population that’s more at risk,” Metz said.

Metz notes that during heat waves, it’s important for people to watch out for others and check in on neighbours because those living alone or socially isolated can also be vulnerable to heat.

A B.C. coroner’s report following the 2023 heat dome noted that 98 per cent of the 619 deaths identified as being related to heat occurred indoors, with 56 per cent of those who died living alone.

“Social cohesion or social connectedness has been shown to be a very important factor for resilience and for health during heat waves,” Metz said.

“In fact, in some cultures where there are multi-generational families living together, it’s just very natural for people to care about others … so they don’t often experience the same kind of situation that we might have here in North America, where we have one generation living in a household.

“The ability to reach out, call someone, or stop by has been shown to greatly support health and well-being for people who are isolated.”

She added that older adults and those living alone should reach out to other people to let them know they’re on their own and are open to having someone check on them during periods of extreme weather.

As a heat wave enters Ontario later this weekend, Metz said people should stay in the coolest part of their home if possible or go to a community cooling centre, wear lighter-coloured clothing if you have to go out, keep your doors and windows closed during the hottest parts of the day, and turn off items that may produce extra heat in your home.

“If you need to be out, you want to do that during the parts of the day that are the coolest,” she suggested, noting this means early mornings and late evenings.

Police in an Ontario town have arrested one man and are searching for more suspects after a home invasion where a shot was fired, but no one was injured.

On Thursday around 4 a.m., three suspects forced their way through the back door of a home on Brookfield Crescent in Oakville, police said.

Halton Regional Police, who responded to the reported home invasion, said one of the suspects had a handgun and several residents were home at the time.

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More than one of the people inside the house heard the sound of breaking glass, according to police, and confronted the suspects.

Police said one of the suspects fled to the basement, where they were later arrested by the officers who responded to the call. The other suspects fled, and one allegedly fired a shot.

“Thankfully no physical injuries were sustained by household residents,” police said in a news release. “No property was taken.”

Police believe the home invasion was motivated by auto theft.

A 20-year-old man from North York has been charged with robbery with a firearm and disguise with intent.

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