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Organizers pleased with Sunday's protest over arena location

More action planned to try and stop Kingsway location for arena/events centre
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Organizers of a walk last Sunday are pleased they got 50 people out on a snowy day to walk along The Kingsway to prove a point. (File)

Organizers of a walk last Sunday are pleased they got 50 people out on a snowy day to walk along The Kingsway to prove a point.

Vicki Jacobs, a member of the newly formed Sudbury Committee for Sustainable Planning and Development, said the walk showed that building a new arena in the area goes directly against two city priorities: building a walkable city and increasing densification, rather than promoting urban sprawl.

"This site meets neither of that criteria," Jacobs said Monday. "It does feel like you're leaving the city, when you're walking along a 80 km/h road to get there. And you're not passing a lot of amenities between the corner of Barrydowne Road and the corner of Levesque Street where the entrance to the arena will be."

While there are connecting sidewalks that run through Minnow Lake, she said it's not reasonable to expect people to take such a long way around to get there.

"That's not a path people would take — it's so far out of the way,”she said. “It's not a straight shot at all to get anywhere. That's just not a practical solution."

Jacobs resigned from the Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce earlier this year in protest of the chamber's support of building the new arena/events centre on the Kingsway site, in tandem with a new hotel and casino. 

After a fierce debate, city council voted in the spring to build the $100 million facility on land owned by Dario Zulich and his partners, rather than downtown. It will be twinned with a $63 million casino and a new hotel.

Supporters of downtown have reignited their protest as councillors prepare to vote Wednesday on the design for the project, the debt financing plan and to begin the process of rezoning the site to allow a casino and arena.

Sunday's walk was the first public demonstration the committee has organized in hopes of educating the public of the implications of building the arena so far from downtown.

"I think the point was made,” she said. "It felt like it was out of town. It was only safe because we had a police escort.

"It is part of a broader strategy, to do some public education about what this decision is going to mean for our city. People are still talking about the arena decision as if it just happened yesterday. They're not willing to give up on it — both the people opposed and those who think it's good ... Until the job is done, we're not giving up. We think this is a long-term bad decision for the city, and a lot of others agree."

While the group hasn't decided if it will try and block the decision through an appeal to the Ontario Municipal Board or other measures, Jacobs said they believe the issue is too important to stay silent.

"People won't give up on it,” she said. “They have very strong feelings on this and my feelings are pretty clear.

"We will continue educating people about what the consequences of this decision are, asking people to take civic action — whether it's talking about it with your councillors, talking about it with your friends, about what it's going to mean to your property tax bill and to other businesses in the community and for planning opportunities within the community."

While she says Sunday's event was a success — “nobody flipped us the bird” — Jacobs said it won't be repeated.

"I think this will be the only march down the Kingsway," she said. "I can't tell you exactly where this is headed. We haven't carved anything in stone yet. 

"But we are asking people who support (us) to come out to city council on Wednesday, where the site plan will be approved and also the downtown projects are being discussed. We're asking people to stay educated and stay active and involved and informed."


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