As night fell in Toronto on Wednesday, October 2, its residents drifting to sleep, a group of construction workers were just getting started. They wore protective gear and carried chainsaws, and for the next 24 hours they swarmed Ontario Place, the city’s most prized public park, cutting down more than 850 trees—home to upwards of 100 unsuspecting bird and animal species, including Canada geese, mallards, beavers, and chipmunks—spanning 16 acres.
The park, which stretches across two artificial islands off the shore of the idyllic Lake Ontario, is in the process of being turned into a seven-story-high, $500 million spa, which will be run by the Austrian company Therme Group. The company operates similar facilities across Austria as well as in Bucharest and Frankfurt, and plans to open locations in Manchester and Inchon. Their Toronto iteration, whose main domed glass building will house hot and cold plunges, mineral pools, saunas, restaurants, and a water park, is expected to measure the size of a football stadium on the West Island.
