When the RFP and site selection process for a new arena/events centre for the city is complete in June, the company that's expected to build a new casino in Sudbury will be ready.
Carrie Kormos, senior vice-president of marketing and communications for Gateway Casinos, said the company is currently focused on taking over operations in the northern and southwestern gaming areas. That includes Sudbury Downs, where the city's slots facility is currently located.
"We're working hard right now transitioning all the properties and the employees,” Kormos said. “That really is our primary focus. We're almost there, but it's been a lot of work."
Once that process is complete sometime in May, she said they will begin concentrating on developing sites in each city. North Bay and Kenora have no gaming facilities right now, while the company is taking over casinos in the other cities in the bundle, Sault Ste. Marie and Thunder Bay.
"We still have lots of work to do, in Sudbury and a lot of other communities," Kormos said. "We need to talk to folks on the ground, to local decision makers, when we have more time. That will be our primary focus once we get through the transition in May."
As part of the process with the Ontario Lottery Gaming Corp., she said they created a model casino for Sudbury and other communities. However, they haven't made a final decision.
"But we know the city has several spots or pieces of property, including the race track, that they believe would be suitable for a casino,” Kormos said. “So we're going to look at all those options. We continue to watch what's going on in terms of council, and the discussions about a potential new arena development. Those are all things that we're watching and considering.”
Presentation this week
Meeting this week, city councillors heard from Ron Bidulka of PricewaterhouseCoopers gave, who gave an overview of his report on what a new arena/events centre would involve. It says the cost of a new facility would be about $80 million, plus another $20 million if the city has to buy land, build parking or faces environmental concerns.
The centre would include a 5,800-seat arena, and the report outlines criteria for determining the best location: where there is enough parking; where the facility would generate the most economic impact; where the public and private sectors would benefit most, and where the centre would act as a stimulus for the development of an emerging area or the redevelopment of an existing urban area.
The costs of building a new facility could be offset by investment from the private sector, as other cities have done, the report says.
Some communities have built downtown -- Guelph built the Sleeman Centre in its downtown rather than on a developer-provided parcel of land in a suburban location. Others have put their new arenas/event centres where land is cheapest, such as Medicine Hat, which built the Canalta Centre in the suburbs, as did Barrie when they built the Molson Centre.
In Sudbury, businessman Dario Zulich has proposed a $60 million development on land he and his partners own on The Kingsway. However, downtown groups have been lobbying hard to keep the rink downtown.
Wolves will stay in Sudbury
In an interview Thursday, Zulich said he was impressed by Bidulka and is happy with the way the process is unfolding.
"I'm happy with the results of that meeting and I'm happy with the fact we're going to phase 2, which is site selection," he said.
If the process is fair and unbiased, and determines that another location is better, Zulich said he would have no problems accepting the result. And regardless of where the rink goes, he said the Wolves will play there and not leave Sudbury.
"If somehow it's demonstrated that it's better downtown, or better in the South End or better in Azilda, or Dowling, or the Flour Mill -- if it better serves Sudbury there, then who am I to say no?" he said.
"But I can't wait to offer what I have to offer … Right now, I'm seeing no other alternative than going with my site. Maybe there are other sites out there, and if there are, if the process and fair and unbiased, and there's a better site for Sudbury, I have no issue with that. That's where I stand."
While Bidulka didn't address the impact the casino would have on his plans, Zulich said twinning the arena, the casino and the motocross park he wants to build would create a major economic zone for Sudbury.
"We all know a casino is coming to Sudbury," Zulich said. “I believe there's a 1+1=3 opportunity here. You put the three together, it starts creating this economic momentum of this district that separately it can't achieve. That's the critical mass I think that we can achieve by clustering these synergistic types of sports and entertainment venues."
Kormos said Gateway has built casinos as part of larger economic projects, but also operates several standalone facilities, usually twinned with events centres.
“For example, we are located in the Ice District in Edmonton, which is the new home of the Edmonton Oilers, and we are a tenant in the Ice District and have a casino with restaurants and entertainment in there,” she said. “So we understand the synergies of being in a larger complex. But we also have a number of standalone properties across B.C. and Alberta of various sizes and scope.
"Our goal is to find a site that meets our needs, as well as the needs of the community and build it in a way that it can be successful in the local economy, provide jobs in the long term."
