Premier Doug Ford and Therme Canada are vowing to turn Ontario Place into a "world-class, year-round destination" that will attract millions of people (and their dollars) to Toronto each year. But newly-leaked documents show that even in its derelict state, the green space has already been seeing almost as many patrons as the forthcoming megaspa hopes to upon completion.

When all is said and done, the province estimates that not just Therme's wellness complex, but the new Ontario Place as a whole — including the relocated Ontario Science Centre, a reimagined Live Nation concert venue and on-site restaurants — will host four to six million people annually.

This many visitors will undeniably bring great economic benefit to the city and the province. But, it's a number that isn't too far off the 2.9 million people that went to Ontario Place last year as is, according to a letter the Ontario Place Corporation chair sent to the ministry of infrastructure in June.

"I am delighted to share with you the unaudited 2022 financial results for the Ontario Place Corporation," Chair Carmine Nigro wrote in the communication, which was obtained by The Trillium this week.

He cited a record $5.7 million profit for the year along with an accumulated surplus of $12 million, thanks in large part to parking revenues and the lease that Live Nation currently has for Budweiser Stage and RBC Echo Beach.

Also in the missive is the mention of the 2.9 million people who "attended concerts, food festivals, the Lake Shore Inflatable Waterpark, screenings at the Cinesphere and Cirque du Soleil, spendng time at the marina, as well as walking, running and biking through the park."

Nigro, a developer himself who was present at the wedding of Premier Doug Ford's daughter and has donated both to the Progressive Conservative party and Ford's campaign, perhaps didn't realize how this figure might be used against the development of part of the public lands into a private spa.

He added that these year-end results are "an indicator of how the redeveloped site can be animated and programmed."