The sale of the Sudbury Wolves to a developer who wants to build an arena complex on The Kingsway will have no impact on where a new facility will be located, says Mayor Brian Bigger.
"This is a facility that's going to be around for the next 65 years and that's why it's so important that council understands the opportunities that we have in a facility like that and we build it to council's specifications on behalf of the citizens," Bigger told reporters Tuesday at Tom Davies Square.
"So I don't believe it has any impact on that stage of our process. In fact, the next stage in our process is to have staff retain industry experts that will help us walk through this process and we're following a methodology and a process that we follow with any procurement -- and especially a procurement this size."
Developer Dario Zulich announced July 29 he had purchased the Wolves from the Burgess family. Zulich is also part of a group that wants to build the True North Centre on property he owns near Moonlight Beach area of the city.
The $70 million proposal includes a 6,000-seat arena, a convention centre, a second ice rink, a hotel and other amenities. More details can be found at the group's website, truenorthstrong.info.
It would be a P3 project, with the developers running the rink for 30 years before turning it over to the city. The True North proposal doesn't require money from taxpayers, but the city would provide loan guarantees and could be liable if there are problems.
However, many people want the arena to stay downtown, including some city councillors.
The city has approved as much as $275,000 to hire a consulting firm to first help develop the criteria for an RFP, as well as to help finalize the RFP.
"What they'll do is help us review all of the existing information that we have and help staff do further research and analytics on the best opportunities for an events-centre type facility," Bigger said Tuesday.
"Part of our process is to get to the point where council defines what the needs are for the citizens of Greater Sudbury and we define what a facility might look like and that's part of any RFP process for an arena that council would pay for."
The fact the new owner of the Wolves -- the main tenant of the new arena – wants to build the rink on The Kingsway doesn't affect the process, he said.
"We've always had a great relationship with the Sudbury Wolves, with Mr. Zulich, and absolutely the Sudbury Wolves will be playing in Sudbury Arena this winter," he said. "(But) that's how we do procurement at the city -- we have a fair and open process that encourages competition and ensures that the features of the facility will be precisely the features that council has decided on, based on due diligence, based on industry expertise that is independent and providing us their advice.
"We define the criteria for the RFP ... We're in charge of this process. We certainly need to do the homework and have the expertise from the industry that will give us all the information we need to make that decision."
Bigger said the initial goal was to have the RFP ready by June 2017, but there now are efforts to have it ready by the end of March. But he couldn't say when the location of the arena will be decided.
"Right now, I can't speculate. That may or may not be part of the RFP process."
Also Tuesday, the city agreed to transfer the marketing agreements it had with the Wolves to the new owner, assuming the OHL's board of governors approves the sale at its meeting later this month.
Zulich has committed to keeping current staff once the sale of the team is final.
