The Sudbury Community Arena’s construction started off as a hopeful enterprise that brought out the best in the community.
Then, an ambitious fundraising project failed to meet its goals, the project became steeped in controversy and construction dragged on due to issues with leaking pipes.
Aside from the part where it was eventually built, there are numerous parallels between the post-Second World War effort and the Kingsway Entertainment District proposal, which was cancelled and replaced by the current push for an unspecified new/renewed arena/events centre.
Like the Sudbury Community Arena, the KED was controversial during the months and years leading up to its July 12, 2022, cancellation.
Whereas the Sudbury Community Arena proceeded after its costs ballooned, with city council settling on a smaller project than initially anticipated, it remains to be seen what will become of the city’s new arena/events centre project.
The KED was killed when its cost more than doubled to $215 million, at which time city council also voted down pursuing an alternate $150-million version.
The existing arena, reportedly holding up well for its age, remains in use, and a report from city administration on its potential renewal or replacement is anticipated by July 11.
History often repeats itself, so Sudbury.com dug through old Sudbury Daily Star articles with the help of historian librarian Kristen Bertrand to find out how the more than 70-year-old Sudbury Community Arena came to be and how its planning and construction compares to that of the city’s current efforts to get a new or renewed arena/events centre.
Making the case for the new arenas
The Sudbury Community Arena was to replace the Stanley Stadium in Copper Cliff, which opened Jan. 15, 1935.
The old stadium, which eventually came down in 1976 to make way for the McClelland Community Centre and Arena, was 223 feet long and 107 feet wide. Named after Inco chair Robert C. Stanley, the stadium had a seating capacity of 1,100 and standing room for an additional 1,000 spectators.
Approximately 10 years later, the push for a new arena had already ramped up.
In an Oct. 15, 1946 Sudbury Star story, it’s noted, “The fact that Sudbury has dropped out of the hockey picture in recent years is both a matter of regret and concern. The name of Sudbury in hockey circles is like magic.”
Spurred by a perceived need for a larger arena, The Civic Auditorium Committee travelled south in 1946 to tour the arenas of larger communities, including Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.
Sudbury had an advantage in getting an arena built, according to a newspaper article of the day, with “the site already purchased of its proposed building, right in the centre of the city.” This was a difficulty facing other Ontario cities, which faced the possibility of building on their outskirts to get enough land.
This latest time around, the push for a new arena started approximately 10 years ago, and amplified in 2016, when city council began considering a handful of big projects.
A few locations were considered, until city council decided on a property on The Kingsway.
The main push for a new arena was that the Sudbury Community Arena wasn’t meeting modern needs.
Sudbury Wolves and developer Dario Zulich made a case for the Sudbury Wolves needing a new arena, and the KED would also serve as a modern events venue, to accommodate more concerts and other shows that currently skip Sudbury.
“Sudbury Arena’s fixed seating capacity of 4,470 and overall standing of 5,186 no longer reflect the needs of Greater Sudbury and the surrounding region,” according to a city report early in the arena/events centre planning process.
“Nor does the building adequately accommodate the needs of the concert, trade show and the entertainment industry, made more important by way of the fact that Sudbury Wolves only play 40 to 50 home games per year.”
Initial payment plans for the new arenas
Community fundraising appears to have been a key pillar in the Sudbury Community Arena’s construction more than 70 years ago.
In the years leading up to its construction, a public campaign took place urging people to do their share.
“Only with the co-operation of every citizen, every business and every industrial concern can we build this fine civic centre,” a pamphlet from the time said.
The campaign urged to fundraise $500,000 of its $1.2-million cost, with the slogan “It’s Up to Us,” appearing in advertisements of the day.
The city took out $700,000 of debentures to cover the balance of its cost.
“It must not be said that in the city from which flow the metals that have spearheaded the advance of human progress, there is neglect by the people of their most precious resource of all, the children,” a flyer of the day said.
“It is time now to fulfill an obligation squarely facing a city of this size and measure of prosperity. It is time to build a civic centre where we may develop a richer and fuller community life, where there can be recreation and entertainment for all, and where the children may enjoy advantages second to none in the land.”
This latest time around, the city took out $90 million in debt for the KED, taking advantage of a historically low 2.416 per cent interest rate. They also committed $10 million in unspecified fundraising to make the KED a reality.
The city has spent approximately $5.2 million on the KED, at latest update, with the balance of the borrowed money still up for grabs to proceed with another arena project, or whatever else city council decides.
Paying for the ever-changing new arenas
The Sudbury Community Arena took on various forms during its construction.
The project’s budget by 1948 was $1 million, of which the city was anticipated to put up half or more of its cost, projected to be covered by arena revenue, with no impact to tax bills.
Of its cost, Civic Auditorium Committee chair W.R. Koth told city council, “A lot of equipment is at a peak now and the committee members feel that prices might be lower by the time actual construction begins.”
City council ended up approving a $700,000 debenture toward its total cost, which soon hit a projected $1.2 million.
The jump would have been even greater if the city didn’t scale back the project’s scope from the initial plan.
The campaign for funds began on April 4, 1949, when a team of 250 canvassers began enlisting donors. Their effort kicked off with an organizational banquet at the Caruso Club.
Canvassers organized into a “military-style chain of command,” and were grouped into sections of 10 with team captains for each group.
They urged fellow citizens to do their share to support the arena, now advertised as carrying a fixed seating capacity of 4,680.
“Five hundred thousand dollars is a lot of money to raise, but it can be done with the co-operation of every senior wage earner in the city,” auditorium planning committee secretary Marty Keaney was quoted as saying in the newspaper.
As funds began coming in, the scope of the arena changed several times as the city grappled with how to pay for it. The legality of the $700,000 debenture was called into question, and fundraising lagged.
By May 1950, they’d raised $188,933 from the public, while amounts promised but not actually pledged swelled the total to $220,711. This included a provincial grant of $10,000.
With a scaled-back version proposed at the time, with a smaller lobby and lacking the community hall initially proposed, Its updated cost was $972,571, and later hit $1.25 million.
The KED also changed in cost, from its original $100-million budget to a projected $215 million. With the project cancelled, it remains to be seen what form it might take next, if any.
The KED was projected to include hockey seating for 5,800, and room for 6,500 people at concerts.
Controversies clouded both arena builds
Work on the Sudbury Community Arena officially began in May 1950, when the city held a groundbreaking ceremony.
The old Central Public School came down to make way for the arena, at which time Keaney is quoted in a newspaper as calling all the problems leading up to its construction as being “water under the bridge now.”
Controversy plagued the arena’s construction throughout, with several Civic Auditorium Committee members exiting the organization out of protest.
Member Warren Keith declined to share his reason for resigning with the newspaper, but said, “It would be embarrassing to people If I made them public.”
A few days after his resignation, a lien was placed on the building by Nipissing Electrical Supply Company, to force payment of a $9,600 account for supplies. It was removed several days later.
The Sudbury Daily Star’s Aug. 17, 1951, front-page headline read, “Aldermen Clash As Rink Discussed.”
The clash came in response to the lien, the resignation of several committee members and extra costs coming to light. There was also controversy around the Sudbury Wolves, which were selected as the only hockey team permitted in the new rink. They were criticized by Ald. Jack Anderson for “trying to hog hockey here.” More teams were later allowed.
After more than 1,000 leaks were found in the arena’s ice-making apparatus, which welders were unable to repair, the arena’s opening was delayed from its previous Nov. 3.
Welders were working in 16-hour shifts “in a frantic attempt to control the leaks” along eight miles of piping, according to a newspaper article of the day.
In January 1952, the accounting mess that accompanied the arena project was tackled by city council, when the arena manager admitted certain orders were placed without being sanctioned.
The financial discussions of city council on April 1952 were described in the newspaper as “lengthy and confusing.” Two months later, a city engineer told city council, “Before we let out any plans for city buildings, we should have them checked right here in the city hall.”
The KED’s controversies were partly fuelled by misinformation rampant on social media, with various allegations of misbehaviour unproven.
Ward 3 Coun. Gerry Montpellier alleged he was offered a bribe (and then later denied he was offered a bribe) to approve a location for a new municipal arena in 2017, which an OPP investigation later concluded there was no evidence of.
The KED has also faced legal challenges, which were all dismissed. The latest case, filed by the Minnow Lake Restoration Group, was called “entirely without merit.”
Troubles delay the arenas’ openings
The Sudbury Community Arena was originally slated to open in November 1951, but it was delayed by several weeks when various in-ground pipes began springing leaks, forcing the Wolves to forfeit a game they’d anticipated hosting.
Shortly after the arena opened in late 1951, it hosted a game between the Montreal Canadiens and the Sudbury Wolves on Jan. 9, 1952
In October 1952, the newspaper reported that a new concrete floor had been put in and a new artificial cooling system was installed.
As for the KED, legal challenges (which were later dismissed) played a central role in delaying its opening, both prior to the pandemic and again in late 2021.
Shortly before the groundbreaking was slated to take place in late 2021, one of the project’s partners, Gateway Casinos, which was slated to build a new casino at the site, dropped out.
Although clarifying they were still committed to the project, they opted to wait out “significant risks,” including Montpellier’s accusation of bribery and the Minnow Lake Restoration Group’s legal challenge, which were both later dismissed.
COVID-related impacts on construction costs affected the delayed project to such a degree that city council unanimously cancelled the project last year.
More information about the city's arena/events centre project will come in July, and the attitude around council chambers appears to be slanted toward seeing something take place downtown.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.
