On Sept. 13, city council will be considering a motion that I have put forward which, if passed, may result in a decision on the future of the Sudbury Arena by as early as the middle of February 2017. Otherwise, the decision may not be made for at least another two or three years.
City staff have just released an RFP (request for proposal) to find a consultant who will do a feasibility and business case assessment for a sports and entertainment complex, thereby bringing us to the point where council will make a decision on when to release an RFP to see we can find a partner willing to invest in a new arena/event centre with us.
But the time lines established by staff don’t anticipate Council being in a position to even authorize the RFP until next June 27, 2017.
By the time the RFP is released, 90 days are given for proponents to respond and a couple of months are allowed for staff to review and evaluate the responses to the RFP. Council may not be in a position to receive a report with recommendations until some time during in the spring of 2018. And with an election coming on Oct. 22, 2018, there likely won’t be any decision made until after the next election.
The motion I have introduced for debate on Tuesday asks for the decision to be made by the middle of February 2017, up to a full three years ahead of where we may be heading if we don’t make the right decision.
But this is much more than just a motion to accelerate a decision on an arena/event centre. The City of Greater Sudbury is in a unique position right now, but we must be willing to take some well-managed, calculated risks if we are going to seize the opportunities that are being presented to us.
I believe if we make a decision on Tuesday that will allow us to determine a potential partner for an arena/event centre by the spring of 2017. We will be in a position to facilitate a very positive and exciting change of direction for this city.
We were elected because residents wanted change. We can now make this happen if we make the right decision on Tuesday.
I have put forward the motion because, in my opinion, the arena/event centre cannot be considered as a separate entity. It is merely one element of a massive development vision for this city which could include not only a new arena/event centre but also a new casino; a new art gallery; a new central public library; a new francophone art centre; investment in affordable and accessible social housing; enhanced long-term care services for older adults and vulnerable individuals; a renewal of our neighbourhood playgrounds; parks and open spaces; a community hub approach to social and health services; and widespread development of retirement living centres as we become more of an age friendly community.
If we try to deal with this list one thing at a time, we will fail. There must be a co-ordinated approach to address simultaneously all of these community needs and we have all of the resources necessary to make this happen.
It is admittedly an enormous undertaking, but we can do it if we are willing to make some strategic investments. And, right now, as has been repeated many times before, the stars are aligned. But the stars won’t remain aligned for much longer. All we need to do is take the first simple step forward to begin our journey into the future.
We need that one little push and everything will fall into place. I think the first step may very well occur on Tuesday. We have a very short window to work with and I don’t want to see it close on us while we are deciding whether or not to take that first step.
By introducing the motion on Tuesday, I am hoping to generate a serious discussion around the council table in order to determine the true will of council. Do we have enough faith in the future of the City of Greater Sudbury that we are willing to take control of our own destiny? Do we have enough confidence to go ahead with all of the projects that this city needs by making our own investments rather than relying on outside handouts from other levels of government? Are we going to allow senior levels of government to determine our future, or are we going to invest in ourselves?
We definitely need to make a decision on the arena/event centre. Either we are going to find a private sector partner or we need to decide if we want to do it on our own. But we need to get to that decision sooner than later. Once we decide on the arena/event centre, we will be able to deal with everything else. The longer we wait, the longer it is going to be until we get to the rest of the list.
We have been doing a great job of “talking the talk,” but I think it is time for us to “walk the talk.”
Robert Kirwan is the city councillor for Ward 5.
