Supporters of a downtown event centre keep coming out of the woodwork following the release Monday of a report on the preferred location for this potentially $100-million project.
The latest is from Dominic Giroux, the current president of Laurentian University and soon-to-be CEO of Health Sciences North.
In a letter sent to Mayor Brian Bigger yesterday, Giroux pledges his support for a downtown event centre.
“Greater Sudbury is an urban growth centre,” Giroux writes. “Sound urban planning calls for investment in downtown cores and a minimization of urban sprawl. A more vibrant downtown core is good for the city and good for the university and its students.”
He points out that the city's Downtown Master Plan, the commitment to which the city re-affirmed as part of its 2015-2018 corporate strategy, is pretty specific about event centre development.
Quoting from the plan, Giroux writes, “The plan endorsed by council called for new energy to be brought to the 'southern portion of downtown with the rejuvenated arena complex, four-star hotel and new multi-use community and conference space.”
He adds that the Master Plan is more relevant today than it was in 2012, when it was unveiled.
Giroux's letter comes in the wake of a statement from the Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce, pledging its support for a downtown event centre.
