Arguing that economic impact is the most important factor, the Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce is endorsing downtown as location for a new arena/events centre.
In a news release Wednesday afternoon, the chamber praised the PricewaterhouseCoopers report “that there are two viable options for the location of the new arena/events centre and look forward to council’s decision on Tuesday, June 27.
“The chamber supports the construction of a new arena/events centre and is advocating that it be built downtown,” the release continued.
“The chamber is supporting the downtown location because of the immediate economic benefits it would provide to the community and because it would benefit the city’s long-range revenue and expenditure structure.”
Economic impact should the most important factor in site selection, the release said, and according to the report, that site is downtown.
“As PWC’s report states, there is already a critical mass of businesses downtown that would see an economic boost from a new arena,” the release said.
“Nevertheless, the chamber emphasizes that the most important thing is that council decide on a location for the arena and proceed with its construction, regardless of whether it chooses the downtown or The Kingsway location.”
Chamber chair Tracy Nutt said the report concluded the project would be a significant local boost to the economy,
“The PWC report indicates that the greatest economic impact will come from an arena located in the downtown, and for that reason we urge council to select the downtown site,” Nutt is quoted as saying in the release.
“But first and foremost, the arena should be built, wherever council decides to build it.”
