The $200-million events centre/arena slated to take shape in downtown Sudbury is another step closer to reality, with five bids submitted for its architectural design.
With bidders’ head offices located in Toronto, Calgary and Kansas City, Mo., none of the Greater Sudbury-area plan takers proceeded with a bid.
With five bids placed, it’s likely that one of the following architectural firms will have staff design an events centre to be located somewhere on a tract of newly acquired city-owned land in Downtown Sudbury, with seating for 5,800 people:
- Brisbin Brook Beynon Architects, based in Toronto. Their website advertises a “diverse portfolio that includes commercial, retail, entertainment, sports, residential, institutional and interior projects.” Among their projects is the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, which opened in 1999 and hosts the Toronto Raptors, Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Rock. They also undertook the design of New York City’s Madison Square Garden renovation in 2014.
- DIALOG Alberta Architecture Engineering Interior Design Planning Inc., based in Calgary. Among their more recent projects is Scotia Place, an event centre in Calgary slated to open in late 2027. It’s set to replace the Scotiabank Saddledome, which is home to the Calgary Flames.
- Perkins + Will Canada Inc., based in Toronto with studios throughout the world. Among their projects is the Simon Fraser University Stadium, which was completed in 2021 and has seating for 1,823.
- Populous, based in Kansas City, Mo. Among their more recent arena projects is the LDLC Arena in Lyon, France, which opened last year. It’s a multi-purpose venue capable of hosting various events which has been commended for its technological innovation.
- ZAS Architects Inc., based in Toronto. Among their arena projects is the Mountainside Arena and Pool in Burlington, and the Port Credit Memorial Arena in Mississauga.
Sudbury.com reached out to a City of Greater Sudbury spokesperson to find out when they plan on selecting a winning proponent, but have not yet received a response. This story will be updated in the event a response is received.
The city’s project timeline, published a few months ago, forecast awarding an architectural services proponent by sometime this month.
The project is virtually identical to the events centre previously proposed to take shape on The Kingsway (The Kingsway Entertainment District, which city council cancelled in 2022 when its cost more than doubled to $215 million).
In addition to location, key differences between the Kingsway Entertainment District and the current project are that the downtown Sudbury effort does not include the construction of a road network, parking, stormwater management facility or a shared outdoor space called Festival Square.
Similar to the Kingsway project, the downtown facility is to include fixed seating for 5,800 people (the existing Sudbury Community Arena has 4,470), including 5,020 in general seating, 500 club seating, loge box seating of 40 and private suites with 240 dedicated seats.
There were 53 plan takers for the events centre’s architectural services, including eight Sudbury-based architectural firms.
Notable among the eight local architectural firms is Yallowega Architecture Inc., which is currently working with Two Row Architect and Teeple Architects on the city’s Cultural Hub at Tom Davies Square library/art gallery and municipal services relocation project.
Other local architectural firms include 3rdLine Studio, Bélanger Salach Architecture, Caritas Development, Centreline Architecture, Danielson Architecture Office Inc., Luciw Boudreau Architecture, Perry + Perry Architects Inc.
The next steps in the city’s timeline include:
- December 2024: Identify venue operator
- January 2025: Select event centre site
- June 2025: Design and cost approval
- March 2026: Award construction contract
- May 2028: Grand opening
City staff are expected to provide an update to city council during their Oct. 8 meeting regarding downtown demolition efforts to make way for the arena/events centre project.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.
