CNE head voices concern for future of fair amid plans to shrink usable space at Exhibition Place

The head of the CNE is expressing concern that the city's plans for Exhibition Place could shrink the space available for the annual fair to a size that would put its revenue in jeopardy.

"The space has been contracting for us year over year, decade over decade, so it limits our capacity to do some of the creative things we might have done in the past," CNE CEO Darrell Brown told CP24 Wednesday at a media preview day.

Brown said the next phase of the Hotel X development on the site will shrink the usable space for the CNE, while the province's plans for a parking garage to service the revamped Ontario Place could reduce space even further.

"There's a hotel Phase Two development that's slated – that's 360,000 square feet of lost programmable space to us that will cost us about $2.6 million a year in lost revenue," Brown said. "There's the deal that was brokered between the province and the city to put parking here for Therme and Ontario Place, and the question is, what that parking looks like?"

While the CNE calls Exhibition Place home, the land is owned by the city.

Phase 2 of the Hotel X expansion will see a new hotel tower constructed west of the existing hotel, along with an auditorium-style performance venue.

Mayor Olivia Chow's office referred questions about the Exhibition Place plans to Coun. Ausma Malik's office as she is currently chair of the Exhibition Place board.

In an email, Malik called Exhibition Place "a unique place in our city" which hosts a number of major events such as the CNE, Honda Indy, Caribbean Carnival, and Royal Agricultural Fair and which also serves as home to Toronto FC, the Marlies, and a soon-to-be WNBA team.

"As the Chair of the Board of Exhibition Place, I worked with staff and my fellow board members to approve foundational principles for the negotiations over the proposed alternative parking solution for Ontario Place," Malik said. "Our position is that any new parking structure should be entirely underground to ensure highest and best use of land for residents, visitors, and Exhibition Place’s users. We know there is a viable underground option, and that is why we took that position."

She said the decision on how the parking structure is built rests with the province.

"If the province values investments in our waterfront, they won’t build a massive above-ground parking lot on it," Malik said. "The province can instead choose to build underground parking to meet requirements, enhance visitor experience, and improve the public realm and programmable space at Exhibition Place."

Brown said he's heard that an above-ground option may be preferred by Infrastructure Ontario, and that the CNE is also "absolutely opposed" to that.

"Aside from taking away from the space, it's just not consistent with what the architectural image is and what this should be for a community gathering place," he said. "So we've proposed an underground solution. We've been proposing that actually since 2015 before all of the Therme discussions happened, and we're still advocating for that."

A spokesperson for the Minister of Infrastructure said the province will work with the city on possible parking solutions at Exhibition Place.

"The Ministry of Infrastructure is coordinating stakeholder meetings with the City of Toronto and Exhibition Place to move this work forward," the spokesperson said in an email.

"We are committed to the CNE, and discussions are taking the needs of Exhibition Place and its tenants into consideration. No decisions have been made at this time as negotiations are ongoing."

Like many annual events, the CNE suffered a financial blow from the pandemic which it is still recovering from. The fair drew a record attendance of 1.604 million people in 2023.