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Year: Built 1971, still open. Location: 955 Lakeshore Boulevard West, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Status: Active and open. Accessibility: I had no trouble getting into and around the site without paying a cent, but it seemed to be under heavy renovations at the time. I have no clue what getting in is like during regular operation. Interesting features: The roof is quite nifty, although too public to normally be considered an infiltration target of its own accord. In fact, most of the interest of my infiltration of Ontario Place was the fact that it was currently not running any businesses or attractions for some reason. Recommendation: Hey, it's a tourist attraction. Will it be as cool normally as it was when I went? Probably not. August 15th, 2001 It's not often you get a huge tourist trap with multiple shops, clubs and displays pretty much entirely to yourself (legally). But then, it's not often your friends decide to attend a concert nearby which you have no ticket for and leave you to your own devices for six hours. God, I was so lonely. Basically, once Asher and some of her accomplices had gone their way and I had gone mine, I decided to follow the directions I had been given by an employee at the amphitheatre gates to the nearest washroom and made my way to the nearby Ontario Place building. It was raining lightly, so I rushed over and entered the main area. There were some employees chatting here, who shot me odd looks when I entered but didn't contest my presence. I looked around and found a stairway heading downwards, where I mercifully discovered the washrooms. Once I had conscientiously done what I was needful of, I began to look around the dark, short hallway the washrooms were attached to. Two doors caught my eye: an unmarked one, and one marked "DO NOT ENTER: HIGH VOLTAGE". I tried the obvious choice first but found it dismayingly locked, so I went for the unmarked door. It led into what was clearly an employee area. Behind a cage was what appeared to be a furnace or other sort of large machine, and the room went in one direction until it narrowed and had too much junk and furniture scattered around to usefully continue through. Heading back, I went instead down a hallway which led to an employee locker room and some other rooms which I decided against looking into, given the distinct lack of appropriate excuses I could provide for anyone who found me in here. "I was, er, just looking for the washrooms." "They're right outside, you must have seen them before deciding to come in here." "Um..." Yeah, they'd give me the locker-thief treatment for sure. So, I took off. Rather than head back outside, though, I opted to head in the opposite direction, down a long, narrow hallway suspended over the water, with a dividing bar down the middle. I later discovered that this was the line-up to the Cinesphere, and it normally would have been packed with people. Right now, I had it to myself. The rain was beginning to pick up a little, and there was a bit of leakage, so the floor was slippery and muddy. I splashed happily down the hallway until I came to the first junction -- there was a stairway up to a club of some design, I believe it was called the Aquarius or some such fool thing. It was a while ago, and I didn't have a camera with me, per usual. Goddamn. I made my way further down the hallway until I found a junction off to the left. I took it, went through a few doors and several unlit hallways with disassembled EXIT signs, passed some clubs, played with my superball, and found a door to the outside. The rain was definitely heavier, and I was getting noticeably damp by being out there. I walked about a bit, and found some public washrooms, a large gate into the back of the amphitheatre where the concert was to be held, and a ramp upwards to what appeared to be a control room or some such thing. The door into it was locked, and off from its side was another ramp, going further upwards. I wished desperately to find out what lay ahead, but the prospect of standing up on the wet, slippery steel rail and gripping the side of the booth to climb around to the other ramp, forty feet over water of an unknown depth, was a prohibitive one. Sadly, I made my way back inside. I actually passed the odd person while I was in here, likely people trying to find alternate routes into the concert. Personally, I had decided that I wished to reach the roof of this place. To this end, every door I had tried was locked up tight. Eventually I followed a stairway to something that was marked as a club called "The Matrix" (unless that was somewhere else and I'm all confused again), where I explored around some hallways and a small second floor, and tried unsuccesfully to access a theatre or something of the sort, before realizing that this one place's fire exit doors were ajar. I opened one and stepped out onto the wet, white steel grille stairway climbing the side of the place. I ran up the stairs, past a locked, empty room and an unlocked, empty room with wet paint on the doors that got on my coat, and made my way further up the exhausting climb until I came to the top -- an entrance to the roof, with a security camera of some design staring at me. I gave it a smile and a wave, then made my way onto the roof. It was clear that this was very much a public area -- there were tables, chairs, and what looked like a bar or restaurant some distance away from me. I walked to the nearest edge of the roof, facing the amphitheatre, and was treated to an excellent view of the concert being set up. I decided to make a note of this should I get too bored later. The rain was coming down quite hard at this point, so I hastened my pace as I looked around. I explored the bar-type area and found some public washrooms in a sunken area accessible by a small staircase. This was a well-equipped roof indeed, and it was all mine! I did much other exploring around Ontario Place that night, into every room and area that was unlocked. I found a large theatre I couldn't enter, lots of strange advertisements for and directions to things I couldn't find, a restaurant that was completely empty, and an unsupervised counter with a freezer full of delicious ice creamy treats as well as a fridge of assorted beverages, which I woefully passed up the chance to loot. I also nearly cried when I could find no way whatsoever to enter the massive, vacant Cinesphere. Later, after the concert had begun, I went back up to my space on the roof and watched for a few minutes before becoming completely drenched by the torrential downfall. Soaked and squishy, I miserably made my way back into the building, where I decided for some reason to hop the gate into the concert to see what happened. Predictably, I was escorted out, although rather politely. I was even shown where I could buy a good coffee. That essentially ended my evening and night at Ontario Place, most certainly one of the stranger solitary outings I've had. -Flame0ut . |