With the rumour mill working overtime, Ward 7 Coun. Mike Jakubo wants people to know that the Capreol Community Centre and Arena is safe from city council’s axe.
The seed of misinformation was planted last week, when Greater Sudbury city council approved an estimated $29.2-million Valley East Twin Pad Multipurpose Sports Complex.
The project is contingent upon the city receiving $20 million from senior levels of government, which they have yet to secure.
City council’s approval also requires the closure of four arena pads once the complex opens. These include Raymond Plourde Arena, Centennial Arena, Capreol Community Centre and Arena pad No. 1 and one additional pad recommended by staff.
The ambiguity of “one additional pad” got people fired up on social media.
“Literally that night of that meeting I just started getting the nastiest Facebook messages and tweets and things, where people were saying that I along with council voted to close the arena,” Jakubo told Sudbury.com, adding that this was never the case.
Capreol pad No. 2 is safe, he said.
“It’s in good shape,” he said, adding that it’s a low-maintenance facility. “Yes, it needs regular maintenance and things like that, but it’s bright and seems to be in good shape.”
Usage in the last two years is “actually decent,” he said, adding that it currently sits at around 65 per cent, “which is on par with an acceptable range of usage you would see in some other arenas.”
The attached community hall is of great importance to the community of approximately 3,400 people, he said, as there’s no other space of its size for people to come together for things such as community meetings and social gatherings.
Pad No. 1 has already been closed throughout the pandemic at the recommendation of city staff, at which time it recorded a usage of 20 per cent while pad No. 2 was at 50 per cent.
“Even now, (pad No. 2 is) only at 65-per-cent usage, so there’s still a third of the time slots available,” Jakubo said, adding that one pad should serve the community well.
The arena currently has one of the municipality’s lower gradings, which affects its hours of operation. In the event bookings increase even more, its hours could increase to allow for increased demand.
As for pad No. 1, Jakubo said it currently serves the production of “Letterkenny,” which rents out the pad for filming. During days in which they require ice, they shift to pad No. 2, which they rent alongside the upstairs hall for the crew.
It’s expected the Letterkenny production continues in this manner, which Jakubo said has also factored into his support for permanently decommissioning pad No. 1 in the event the Valley East complex finally opens.
This is a shift from Jakubo’s pledge in 2019 to “not vote to close any arena pads in Capreol,” which he made on Facebook on July 9, 2019.
“COVID has caused there to be a complete rethink on a number of issues,” he said.
“Now, with the way things have shaken out, and the opportunity that has presented itself for pad one it’s an easy decision for me because the economic benefit the town is going to see from a TV production far exceeds the limited bookings the pad would see.”
Greater Sudbury city council is expected to conclude 2022 budget deliberations during a finance and administration committee meeting scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. on Wednesday. A livestream of proceedings can be found by clicking here.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.
