The city of Greater Sudbury issued a statement of clarification on Friday, in relation to a document that incorrectly identified an increase in project costs related to the Kingsway Entertainment District.
"It has come to our attention that information included in a document for the Kingsway Entertainment District appeals, submitted by the City of Greater Sudbury to the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT), contained an error in wording," said the city in an email statement Friday.
"The document incorrectly noted an escalation of project costs from $80 million in 2017 to $100 million today. We apologize for this error and are working to have it corrected with LPAT. We fully understand errors like this can result in a misinterpretation of the facts. As part of our due diligence we want to publicly clarify for the community."
The remainder of the statement is as follows:
In March 2017, the City's consultant projected an initial cost of building the structure at approximately $80 million.
In June 2017, the final estimated budget for the project was presented to Council in the amount of $100 million. This increase from the original projection allowed for the cost of land, site development and off-site improvements, and was approved by City Council when the Kingsway site was selected.
The capital budget to construct the full Arena/Event Centre project remains unchanged at $100 million, consistent with the project plan approved by City Council.
To date, the total amount the City has invested in the Kingsway Entertainment District is approximately $2.425 million.
With the provincial emergency order remaining due to COVID-19, the four-day LPAT hearing scheduled for May 5, 2020 is adjourned to a future date.
Full project details, including an outline of costs, are available on the City’s website at www.greatersudbury.ca/largeprojects.
