The price of demolition and construction

The city is looking for bidders for a major construction project, and another for major demolition project, both of which will significantly change the way Greater Sudbury looks.

The construction project is the early, early stages of the plan to replace Sudbury Arena, the loved-but-outdated Elgin Street rink that opened in 1951. The city is looking to see how much formal interest there is in the private sector to take the arena project, estimated to cost in the neighbourhood of $60 million.

Greater Sudbury CAO Doug Nadorozny told city councillors in October that the expression of interest, as the tender is called, aims to determine how much genuine interest there is in the private sector to be involved with the project.

“In the last three or four years, we've had groups – even local – come forward to suggest they have an interest in building a new arena, (but) that's as much as they've said,” Nadorozny told councillors at their Oct. 8 meeting.

The expression of interest is as broad as possible, he said, to ensure they will receive a wide a range of options to choose from. While there was some hope that, for example, a casino operator would come in and build a new rink, Nadorozny said they're not holding their breath.

“It's an unlikely scenario that someone is just going to build an OHL arena for us and then allow us to use it,” he said. “At the other end of the spectrum, someone locally could provide land, and we would have to build on it. And there's all kinds of (possibilities) in between.”

Those possibilities include the so-called P3 model, which is being used now in Sudbury to build the $60-million biosolids plant. It's an arrangement in which the public sector finances the project, but a private company builds and is paid to operate and staff the facility for a set amount of time. It allows governments to minimize risk of cost overruns, while the business profits, as long as there are no major problems.

But P3s are unpopular with public-sector unions, whose members would otherwise be employed at such facilities. Just because P3 is an option, Nadorozny said, doesn't mean the arena will be built in the same way as biosolids plant.

“We want to get all those opportunities out on the table so we don't short-circuit something before we even start,” he said. “We have a pretty good handle on what we would require in a new venue ... So what are the ideas out there in the community to build that facility?”

The expression of interest is aimed companies interested in “the design, construction, development and/or operation of a new premier ice facility.”

“As the home of the Ontario Hockey League's Sudbury Wolves Major Junior 'A' hockey club, the facility brings in approximately 150,000 fans per season,” the document says. “The overall estimated attendance at the Sudbury Community Arena, on an annual basis, is well over 200,000 patrons.”

The proposals must include options to have the current rink stay open while the new one is built. The plans must also include:
• One NHL size ice pad, although the proposal could include additional ice pads;
• Enough seating to meet the requirements to host the Memorial Cup, the top junior hockey tournament in Canada;
• The ability to handle major concerts and events, something the badly outdated Sudbury Arena can't.

Proposals must also include a businesses plan, preliminary designs and sketches, estimated seating capacity, overall construction costs, an estimate of annual operating and maintenance costs, as well as a timetable for construction.

Deadline for submissions in Dec. 4, with a report going to city council sometime in early 2014. Dozens of companies have taken copies of the tender, although that doesn't mean they will all submit proposals.

Kingsway Hotel demolition
Bidding on the contract to demolish the old Kingsway Hotel, the crumbling eyesore at the mouth of Sudbury's busiest roadway, closed Nov. 5.
In that tender, the city sought bids to demolish the three-storey concrete structure, which is about 10,000 square feet, “down to foundation.”

The winning bidder must be able to complete the job within eight weeks and will be responsible for obtaining all permits required to demolish the building, and for cleaning up and removing all hazardous waste.

The former hotel has been a restaurant, gas station and car repair shop. The building has been vacant since 2009.
@darrenmacd