Architecture firm behind Ontario Science Centre says closure was 'a political move'

The firm of the late architect who designed the Ontario Science Centre says the province's decision to immediately close its doors over a problem with the roof was "absurd" and motivated by politics rather than safety concerns.

The firm of the late architect who designed the Ontario Science Centre says the province's decision to immediately close its doors over a problem with the roof was "absurd" and motivated by politics rather than safety concerns.

Brian Rudy, a partner with Moriyama Teshima Architects, said news of the science centre's abrupt closure last week left them "dumbfounded."

"It's absurd to think that the whole building needs to be immediately shut down," Rudy told The Canadian Press. "It's so obviously a political move."

Raymond Moriyama, who died last year, designed the science centre that opened in 1969 on a ravine near the west branch of the Don River in Toronto's east end.

At a hastily called news conference last Friday, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Infrastructure Ontario announced the science centre would close by 4 p.m. due to health and safety concerns over the roof.

The closure sparked outrage from local residents, science lovers and opposition politicians. Many have called on the government to reverse course.

The province blamed failing roof panels made with a material called reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete, a lightweight form of concrete that was popular in the 1960s and '70s.