A longstanding debate with no end in sight will trudge forward during Tuesday’s city council meeting, at which two motions opposing the Kingsway Entertainment District will come up.
These member’s motions include a push by Ward 2 Coun. Michael Vagnini for the city to reconsider the Project Now proposal by 3rdLine.Studio, and a motion by Ward 3 Coun. Gerry Montpellier for an arena question to be included in an Oct. 24 referendum.
The Project Now proposal was an unsolicited idea by 3rdLine.Studio that proposed a downtown arena renovation project advertised as being $40 million less than the planned KED, which the city has budgeted at $100 million.
Within the preamble to Vagnini’s motion, the $60-million price tag has been reiterated alongside a claim that the project would “also include an indoor parking facility which could address an identified parking need in downtown Sudbury.”
During a presentation to city council in October 2020, Tim James with 3rdLine.Studio noted that Project Now’s approximately $60-million price tag did not include a parking structure, which he estimated as carrying a price tag of around $35 million.
City council voted against a December 2020 motion to have staff take a closer look at Project Now – a narrow 6-6 vote that included opposition by Vagnini.
The following month, Vagnini said he mistakenly voted against the motion due to miscommunication and thought he was voting on its deferral.
In the year that followed, city council voted to have staff proceed with the KED. The city is currently working with three shortlisted teams on their design/build requests for proposals in hopes of having ground break by the end of the year.
Montpellier’s motion proposes a referendum question on Oct. 24 that asks: “Are you in favour of spending $113,000,000 on a new arena?”
The ambiguity of “new arena” is deliberate, Montpellier said, and $113 million is an updated ballpark estimate for the approximate cost of either the KED arena or a modernized downtown Sudbury Community Arena.
The timing of an Oct. 24 referendum puts it in conflict with the existing direction of city council for staff to move quickly on the KED. The current projected timeline anticipates that a legally binding project completion agreement will have been signed by all partners prior to this year's municipal election in anticipation of a grand opening in 2025.
Both KED-related member’s motions are reconsiderations of previous directions of city council and will as such require a two-thirds majority vote of city council to be presented.
Although city council remains divided on the KED, a narrow majority has consistently voted in favour of the project. As such, it’s unlikely that either anti-KED motion will pass.
A review of the city’s museums is also on Tuesday’s city council agenda – a review first tabled in December. Ward 12 Coun. Joscelyne Landry-Altmann introduced a successful motion at the time to delay city council’s debate until such time as city staff had prepared a presentation and the city’s elected officials had taken a closer look at what has been proposed.
City staff is advising the city to keep the city’s museums closed throughout 2022 and for a Museums Revitalization Business Plan to be developed for consideration as part of the 2023 budget.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.
