Hundreds of buildings with Science Centre roof panels remain open [Video]

The same lightweight concrete roofing material blamed for safety risks at the Ontario Science Centre is used in hundreds of other aging public buildings across the province, yet officials haven’t pointed to any others that have been ordered closed.

The revelation comes as critics question whether the findings of an engineering report on the science centre’s roof justify the Ford government’s move to close the 55-year-old Toronto facility to the public with less than two hours notice. 

Much of the roofing at the Ontario Science Centre is made of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC), a material widely used in the construction of flat-roofed buildings throughout the 1960s and early 1970s. 

Although the province has for months been investigating the status of RAAC in Ontario schools and other public-sector facilities, and has identified it in some 400 buildings, all but the science centre remain open, CBC News has found.

An engineering …