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Three firms bid to help city with arena RFP

Winner should be picked next month; council update on process expected in November
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Three firms have bid for the consulting contract to help the city develop the criteria for the RFP for a new arena/events centre. First approved in July with a budget of $125,000, about two dozen firms expressed initial interest, with three submitting bids by the Sept. 22 deadline.

Three firms have bid for the consulting contract to help the city develop the criteria for the RFP for a new arena/events centre.

First approved in July with a budget of $125,000, about two dozen firms expressed initial interest, with three submitting bids by the Sept. 22 deadline.

City communications officer Shannon Dowling said Thursday  the winning bidder will likely be selected around Thanksgiving.

"From there, we'd be looking to bring a report to council to give an update on the process in mid-November," Dowling said.

The move is the latest milestone in the effort to replace the 65-year-old Sudbury Arena. Councillors voted in November 2015 to support several big projects for the city, including a new art gallery and library, a Place des arts facility, the Synergy Centre and the arena/events centre.

Councillors received a more detailed analysis of each project in April, before voting in July to hire the consultant to develop the RFP for the project. Staff has committed to completing that process in June 2017. 

An effort to speed that process up went down to defeat at last week's city council meeting, but Mayor Brian Bigger has said the work could be completed as early as March.

A project working group dedicated to the arena/events centre has been created, comprised of senior staff including CAO Ed Archer,  and representatives from the planning, leisure services, purchasing, and legal departments. 

The group will work with the consultant “to determine criteria for a new sports and entertainment complex (size, type, amenities, etc.), to review and decide on potential funding models and partnership structures, and ultimately to assist with the development of a terms of reference for, and evaluation of, an RFP for a competitive bidding process for this project,” says a resolution passed earlier this year.

A total of $275,000 has been set aside to fund the process. Dowling said Thursday there's no hard and fast rule for how the process should take place.

"The process of putting together an RFP depends on the size and complexity of the project," she said.

With some people in the city wondering why the process is taking so long – including Sudbury.com managing editor Mark Gentili in a column this week – Mayor Brian Bigger has written an opinion piece to address the concerns.

“The facility we ultimately get reflects council’s judgment about building features, size and amenities to address community needs, now and in the future,” Bigger says in the piece. “This is the community’s arena, and ultimately council wants to make a decision based on your best interests. 

“I would like to see the development of an event centre as quickly as possible. But, we need to balance this with what’s reasonable ... Staff are committed to shortening the current timeline as much as possible without compromising the project analysis.” 

All of the big projects are major undertakings, Bigger writes, so following a sound process is important.

“Undertaking any of these without due diligence would be like buying a house without  seeing it first,” he said. “With potential investments and commitments in the millions of dollars towards a greater quality of life in Greater Sudbury, we will use the right amount of information to get it right.”


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Darren MacDonald

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