Sudbury city council selects Kingsway for new arena location
Push to build new arena in downtown Sudbury defeated in 6-6 tie
A new arena will be built on the Kingsway in Sudbury, Ont., after a 10-2 vote on Tuesday by city council.
Councillors defeated a proposal earlier in the evening to place the new event centre downtown due to a 6-6 tie.
Coun. Gerry Montpellier abstained from voting because he a declared conflict of interest with the city's motorsports group, which wants to build a park on the Kingsway property.
The estimated $100 million facility will replace the arena that currently exists downtown on Elgin Street.
The Kingsway location was pitched by local entrepreneur Dario Zulich under the brand True North Strong. He has a letter of intent from Gateway Casinos to build a casino on the site, and also wants to build a hotel and convention centre as part of a new entertainment disctrict.
A report by consultant PriceWaterhouseCoopers indicated that the downtown core is the most suitable location for a new event centre, but the site scored poorly for available parking.
The Kingsway received higher marks for parking and cost, but lower on access and ease of development.
In the lead up to the vote, Prime Real Estate Group revealed it is ready to develop 600 parking spots in the city's core. Ron Bidulka, consultant at PriceWaterhouseCoopers, noted the proposal would have given the downtown more points in his report if it had been confirmed at the time it was released.
How they voted for downtown
- Coun. Mark Signoretti: yes
- Coun. Michael Vagnini: no
- Coun. Gerry Montpellier: abstained
- Coun. Evelyn Dutrisac: no
- Coun. Robert Kirwan: no
- Coun. Rene Lapierre: yes
- Coun. Mike Jakubo: no
- Coun. Al Sizer: yes
- Coun. Deb McIntosh: yes
- Coun. Fern Cormier: yes
- Coun. Lynne Reynolds: no
- Coun. Joscelyne Landry-Altmann: no
- Mayor Brian Bigger: yes
How they voted for Kingsway
- Coun. Mark Signoretti: no
- Coun. Michael Vagnini: yes
- Coun. Gerry Montpellier: abstained
- Coun. Evelyn Dutrisac: yes
- Coun. Robert Kirwan: yes
- Coun. Rene Lapierre: yes
- Coun. Mike Jakubo: yes
- Coun. Al Sizer: yes
- Coun. Deb McIntosh: yes
- Coun. Fern Cormier: no
- Coun. Lynne Reynolds: yes
- Coun. Joscelyne Landry-Altmann: yes
- Mayor Brian Bigger: yes