Multi-use facility will make Sudbury 'centre point for the north'

A multi-use facility located in Sudbury's downtown core will bring the municipality to a new level, according to Mayor Marianne Matichuk.

Such a facility would make Sudbury the “centre point for the north,” she said during her state of the city address at the Jan. 23 Rotary Club meeting.

It would bring people from all corners of the province to the Nickel Capital, which would help establish the city as a gathering place for all Ontarians, she said. Currently, the city is missing out on a lot of opportunities, because there is no such facility.

In the city's Downtown Master Plan, it has identified a multi-use facility as one of 61 projects to revitalize the downtown core, and a project that would bring “new energy” into the area,” Matichuk said.

The facility is “just an idea” right now, she said. Organizations looking to host conferences where there will be more than 250 people attending would be hard-pressed to find a facility to accommodate that many, she said.

“We know the maximum at the Caruso Club, depending on how you set it up, is about 600 people,” she said. “We're at a level in this community where we can sustain a multi-use facility like this. I've been to a few conferences here, and there are a lot of people from southern Ontario at those conferences. They didn't want to bother with the traffic or the expense of travelling to Toronto for conferences.”

It will be up to the community to decide what the final product would be, she said.

“It's an idea that has been floated out there for years, and I think it's time we start asking the private sector to get involved and see what we can come up with,” she said. “There is enough business in Sudbury, and this will bring us to another level.”

A multi-use facility was one of several topics she broached in her speech. Right now, there is a great deal of opportunity in the city with potential for economic growth and a positive image that is being projected throughout the world, she said. With a low employment rate, it is the opportune time to capitalize and build on these positives and to move forward.

“It takes everyone to move in the same direction, and the support from the community has been wonderful,” she said. “There is a great opportunity over the next couple of years to take advantage of new economic engines within the community that will only lead to more employment and a better understanding by colleges and universities as to what we need in the city.”

The past year has brought some challenges, but also many successes, she said. The School of Architecture, is one such example.

Sudbury is built upon three cornerstones: opportunities, a thriving economy and an evolving image that is fast becoming recognized by the rest of the world.

“There is no shortage of opportunities here, and there is a lot of economic prospects,” she said, all of which give the city the ability to achieve even more, and added there is always more work to be done.

Retail stores are opening, restaurants are expanding, and there is a nightlife like no other in any northern community, she said, and these all contribute to the city's downtown becoming an “urban gemstone.”

The local entertainment industry, with productions such as The Truth featuring Hollywood-calibre stars, have made it clear Sudbury is becoming the destination of choice when it comes to producing quality entertainment, she said. Sudbury is home to talented people trained in skills such as sound, lighting and set design, so when the next production rolls into town, Sudbury will be ready, eliminating the need to seek external talent and bring in millions of dollars to the community.

The city also embarked on a “new way of doing business,” she said, in entering into public-private partnerships, evident in the eventual construction of a new bio-solids facility.

The city's top priority will remain industrial lands, she said.

Partnerships have been created with local mining companies that will significantly decrease the cost of road repairs to taxpayers.

For instance, about a year and a half ago, Vale approached the city about working together in partnership on Worthington Road (Municipal Road No. 4). In order to haul ore, they need access 12 months a year with no load restrictions, Greg Clausen, general manager of infrastructure services, said, in elaborating on the mayor's speech.

“They came to us and said, 'it's your road, and we want to work together to fix it up,'” he said.

Council supported the concept (the proposed partnership will come before council tonight, Jan. 24 for final approval), which will see the mining company pay $15 million toward the total capital cost of rebuilding that roadway.”

The city will foot the rest of the bill at $5 million, Clausen said.

“This will greatly improve the road and the safety for everyone who lives out there,” he said. “It's a win-win for everyone.”

Similarly, QuadraFNX is in the process of building its Victoria Mine, and the city will be coming back before council again to discuss cost-sharing with Quadra to rebuild the road leading into the future mine site. As well, similar discussions are underway with Xstrata in the town of Falconbridge.

Posted by Arron Pickard