Despite the doubt that some have tried to portray with false and misleading statements, the Price Waterhouse (PwC) Event Centre Update Report which will be presented to city council June 16 clearly concludes that the Kingsway location provides the "highest economic benefit, for the lowest cost, with the least amount of risk.”
The report is evidence that council made the right decision on June 27, 2017.
All of the current facts are now out in the open. There is no objective, compelling justification for any further delay on the KED project.
Six hundred people desperately need the jobs that are going to be created when the KED opens. At a very conservative estimate of an annual average of $40,000, those people will be earning over $24 million worth of income every year. The project has already been delayed by over two years, so that delay has collectively cost those people $48 million in earnings. That is $48 million of earnings that would have been spent locally on goods and services, creating more jobs in businesses around our city. Every month longer that we delay this project costs them $2 million and means it will take that much longer for many of them to get out of poverty.
So far the delays may have cost our city about $15 million in added construction costs for the event centre. If we could have started building in 2019, as planned, the cost of construction would have been $15 million less than it will be now. That is one of the real consequences that the residents of this city will have to absorb.
Moreover, if we could have started building in 2019, our city's economy would be now benefitting from $260 million worth of construction that would have been poured back into materials and supplies, equipment rentals, services and the wages for hundreds of employees involved in the construction and/or contracted services. That would have been a huge boost to our economy during the pandemic. This construction can begin in early 2022, and we need this economic stimulation without any further delay.
The people who oppose the KED have had their chances. They have accused councillors of bias and acting in bad faith. A Superior Court of Justice judge stated that there was no truth to any of their accusations.
The people who oppose the KED filed 12 appeals against the decision of council to approve the re-zoning of the land to allow for the arena and the casino. The LPAT ruled that there was no merit to any of the appeals and that council was compliant with all existing legislation. All appeals were dismissed and one wasn't even allowed to move forward.
The people who oppose the KED have tried to convince the public that a renovation of the existing arena could produce the same kind of event centre for much less cost. The PwC report has proven those claims wrong. In fact it is more expensive to build what we want in a renovated downtown arena.
There is actually very little public opposition to the KED now. There is a small group of individuals in our community who will always condemn council's decision to go ahead with the KED. It doesn't matter what the facts say, they do not support the KED and never will. They continue to attack the reports and councillors, but their voices are being ignored by the vast majority of our residents who can see that the investment of the event centre on the Kingsway will produce the best long term outcome for our city.
And so, on June 16, when council meets, I do not expect any change in direction. The time has come to move forward with this project and give hope for a better future to the 600 people who are waiting for those jobs as well as the hundreds of other people who will be hired for jobs in businesses that will benefit from the $260 million investment and the $24 million per year payroll that will come from the KED.
This is going to provide a tremendous economic benefit for businesses in both the downtown as well as across the entire city.
The time has come to move this city forward into a bright and prosperous future. I have confidence that the majority of my fellow Councillors will continue to support the vision we had back on June 27, 2017.
Robert Kirwan
Greater Sudbury city councillor for Ward 5