Olympic Spirit Toronto was an Olympic-themed attraction featuring the moments of high drama and emotion experienced by Olympians and fans throughout Canada's history with the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

. It offered visitors a taste of what the Olympics are about through interactive sports activities that gave them a chance to try Olympic sports and engage in friendly competitions among themselves. The education-oriented attraction operated in a building at 35 Dundas Street East on

Dundas Square Dundas may refer to: Places Australia * Dundas, New South Wales * Dundas, Queensland, a locality in the Somerset Region * Dundas, Tasmania * Dundas, Western Australia * Fort Dundas, a settlement in the Northern Territory 1824–1828 * Shire o ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

from August 2004 to August 2006. Following the closure of Olympic Spirit Toronto, the building was purchased by

Rogers Communications Rogers Communications Inc. is a Telecommunications in Canada, Canadian communications and media company operating primarily in the fields of mobile phone operator, wireless communications, cable television, telephony and Internet access, Intern ...

, and was renovated into television studios for

Citytv Citytv is a Canadian television network owned by the Rogers Sports & Media subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The licence of the original Citytv station, granted the callsign of CITY-TV by the CRTC on November 25, 1971 to Cable Television Ass ...

and

Omni Television Omni Television (stylized as OMNI Television) is a Canadian television system and specialty channel owned by Rogers Sports & Media, a subsidiary of Rogers Communications. It currently consists of all six of Canada's conventional multicultural t ...

. Citytv moved into the space on September 8, 2009. Olympic Spirit won a number of prestigious awards, including the 2005 Thea Award for Outstanding Achievement and the 2005 Innovation Award presented by Tourism Federation of Ontario (TFO). ''The Calling'', the high-definition film produced for Olympic Spirit, was awarded the 2005 AMOVA Award at the 23rd edition of " Sport Movies & TV - Milano International FICTS Fest" in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

Future of the Olympic Spirit in Toronto

Mark Dzenick, chairman of the Olympic Spirit Group, the master licensor of the Olympic Spirit concept together with the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

and the

Canadian Olympic Committee The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC; french: Comité olympique canadien) is a private, non-profit organization that represents Canada at the International Olympic Committee (IOC). It is also a member of the Pan American Sports Organization ...

, expressed his confidence in the city and optimism for the future. “I appreciate the effort that the local licensee and operator, PenEquity Management Corp. and Toros Entertainment Inc., put into the project. They believed in Toronto and in bringing the Olympic Spirit to its citizens. I have a great deal of faith and trust in the city. The Olympic Spirit is alive and well in Toronto, and we hope to announce plans for a more family-oriented location sometime soon.”Press Releas
"Closing Doors on Dundas Square"
Olympic Spirit Group, July 26, 2006.

References

External links

Olympic Spirit Toronto

Olympic Spirit Group - Wayback Machine

Canadian Olympic Committee

International Olympic Committee
{{coord, 43.656001, N, 79.379282, W, region:CA-ON_type:landmark, display=title Museums disestablished in 2006 Museums established in 2004 Defunct museums in Toronto Canada at the Olympics Olympic Games Sports museums in Canada Olympic museums