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Kingsway arena/event centre: The public gets its say

A few months after controversial vote, project moving along 'at the speed of business'

Dario Zulich himself was on hand at a Sept. 20 brainstorming session where members of the public were invited to share their vision for the Kingsway Entertainment District and Arena/Event Centre integrated site plan. 

By mid-evening, about 50 people had showed up to share their views, talking about everything from transit service and active transportation infrastructure to the need to integrate restaurants.

The drop-in event was also attended by Mayor Brian Bigger, several city councillors and top city bureaucrats.

“I saw quite a few people this afternoon,” said Zulich, a local businessman who owns the land where the entertainment district and arena/events centre will be built, as well as the Sudbury Wolves team.

“A lot of them are wanting to know why is it taking so long, because they just want it to happen quickly.

“You can't put the cart before the horse. I think the process is moving along quite quickly. And like (city CAO) Ed Archer said at council so eloquently, we're moving at the speed of business, not at the speed of government.

“It's a great process, and I'm happy at everything so far.”

By the way, the decision to locate the arena/events centre on The Kingsway was actually only made in late June, and by August, a site design contract was awarded to Cumulus Architects.

Brothers Roger and Don Levesque say the land upon which the development will be built used to be their father's farm, and that they both still live in the area.

They came to the consultation session to find out more.

“I think it's a great idea, personally,” said Roger. “I think it's the only sensible idea. Where are you going to put it downtown? Look, I'm not against downtown.

“People can argue all they want, but if you want to park in the Donovan and go to a hockey game in downtown Sudbury, you might be all right. You go to any activity here, there's no room to park. I've done it for many years, trust me.”

Charles Tossell spent his time at the brainstorming session writing comments in marker on large sheets of paper taped to the walls. 

As a transit user, he said he's most interested in ensuring there's proper transit service to and from the venue.

“Hopefully the city offers a decent amount of transit services in the evenings,” he said. “Right now it's once an hour at night after 10 p.m. Usually concerts are finished at 11 or sometimes even 12 a.m.”

Because the arena/events centre will be used for the next half-century, it's important to listen to people's vision for the venue, said project director David Shelsted.

“Because you're going make this big investment now, you need to look at not only the requirements of today, but into the future,” he said.

If you didn't get a chance to drop in on the brainstorming session, Shelsted invites people to submit their comments online until Oct. 4. 

The comment form will also be available at all Citizen Service Centre and library locations, where staff can assist residents in providing input. 

Concepts for the site plan will be brought forward by the consultants in October, at which time the public will have another chance to comment, Shelsted said. 


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Heidi Ulrichsen

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