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Letter: Downtown event centre about building for the future, supporters say

Dozens sign letter of support for downtown solution to event centre question
Sudbury aerial
(File)

Greater Sudbury is at a turning point in its history; we have been sitting on an exciting and rare opportunity. With the Downtown Master Plan, the community and city council launched Northern Ontario’s Urban Supercluster.

We already have an entertainment and culture cluster downtown. We have the region’s largest concentration of hospitality and retail industry. We have a growing post-secondary cluster and all this is happening at the heart of the greatest concentration of people and talent in the entire north. 

These elements are the foundation of a development hub for the northeast that can attract more people and jobs.

The first element is culture and entertainment. Our city council is set to decide on key projects that offer to set Sudbury as the regional hub for arts, sports and entertainment. The addition of a new event centre that can attract both big acts and national sporting events like a brier or figure skating championship; the Franklin Carmichael Art Gallery that will boast one of the best collections of Group of Seven pieces; Place Des Arts which will be a northern hub for the Francophone arts community, and; the proposed Synergy Centre, which will host conferences for attendees from across the country.  
 
The second element is the existing local hospitality and retail industry cluster within the downtown. While hospitality has been active and growing in the downtown for the past 10 years, our retail sector is seeing a renaissance of new shops being operated by driven young entrepreneurs gaining international attention. While currently healthy, our hospitality industry is set to strengthen and grow with the culture and entertainment investments.
 
The third and most important element is the people. The McEwen School of Architecture has brought a new energy to the downtown, with diverse and forward-thinking students and academics poised to drive our community forward it’s a big step, but only the first step.

Today’s workforce is the most mobile workforce in history. People are not tied to a city by a job in the ways they have been in the past. People are choosing the city they live in, instead of having it selected for them by the job they do. 

A strong urban core is a fundamental element in attracting a digital workforce, and a digital workforce helps drive a variety of employment across a region. Our mining supply sector, education, and health care industry is more and more dependent on a digital workforce. That burgeoning workforce is not only spinning off standalone digital jobs in app and software development, but is also uniquely positioned to offer manufacturing jobs creating everything from digital devices to smart industrial equipment.

This workforce demands from a city a high quality of life, walkability, a strong local hospitality and retail sector integrated into a vibrant and diverse entertainment district.

These three elements coming together not only strengthens the downtown, but attracts the types of workers that will strengthen our existing industries allowing them to compete for not only on a national but global scale. 

All of this combined equates to more jobs for our entire region, across sectors and a strong tax base to solve long-standing problems like road and water infrastructure.

If your readers would like to add their name to the list below and urge Greater Sudbury's City Council to push forward with smart, sustainable growth they can click here.
 
Signed,

Vicki Jacobs
Christian Pelletier
Shirley Vincent
Matt Alexander
Mark Browning
Marsha Fabbro
Clayton Drake
Félix Hallée-Théoret
Mathew John Ralph
K Donato
Nicholas Fournier
Isabella Scola Lawryshyn
Frank Chartrand
Chris Tammi
David Hunt
Josée Nault
Krishna Patel
Tina Bouffard 
Dunstan Topp
Chelsea Marie Borton
Cody Marcoux
Brandon Fordham
Victoria Torchia
Maureen Luoma
Daniel Barrette
Maggie Leblanc
David Robinson
Shannon Caudle
Chris Williams
Jeff MacIntyre
Dennis Gainer
Angie Gilmore
Krista Piper
Judi Straughan
Matt St. Pierrr
David Wood, P.Eng
Brian Kuczma
Rob Roy
Oli Palkovits
Noemie Lavigne
Kelley Smith
Elizabeth Jacobs
Valerie Smith
Sophie Baysarowich
Erin Danyliw
Gynette Lavoie 
Dean Dion
Angelina Jacobs
Marie-Josée Pelletier
Tomasz Mrozewski
Heather Thomas
Jason Lind
Kayla Borkovich
Stephanie Fisher
Laura Willett
Anne Salter Dorland
Sabrina Desjardins
Mary Smith
Dr. Ray Wiss
Marika McDonald
Paolo Scola
Lauren Pileggi
Janik Guy
Brooke Bruce
Emma Vincent Croft 
Emilie Antoniazzi
Robert Gregorini
Jonathan Danyliw
Michael Yankovich
Natalie Lefebvre
Tariq Alladin
Matthew Wiewel
Derek Weisenberg
Amanda Kingsley Malo
Diane Doucet Salo
Andre Dumais
Ashley Wills
Thomas Yorke
Lee Smith
Tim Boyles
Brian McCullagh
Robert Greene
Jennifer Witty
Stephany Saroka
Doris Lafond
Werner Scherzinger
Brian Danyliw
Ryan Demers
Jennifer Holub
Dennis Laurin
Tyler Hodkinson
Maxime Hillman
Jan Browning
Kristopher Dickson
Roxanne Taillefer
Ian Maclennan
Harriet Kideckel
Jessica Nadel
Bora Ugurgel
Giorgia Apolloni
Doug Bonhomme
Paul Waltenbury
Sidney Smith
Scott Minor
Haley Cassio 
Elia  Lamberti
Lorne Johnson
Debbie Johnson
Sophia Kucyk
Andrew Lamberti
Arthur Peach
Deborah Sauvé
Wendy Watson
John Arnold