The Downtown Sudbury arena/events centre project was inched forward a bit further on July 9, with city council awarding a contract of up to $200,000 for a project advisor.
KKR Advisors Ltd. are just what their name implies, the city's general manager of growth and infrastructure, Tony Cecutti, told city council, and will serve as advisors for the $200-million project.
Among their roles will be analyzing existing information to help determine a potential specific location within a few blocks of the city’s downtown core “that will maximize adjacent economic development opportunities.” They will also be required to:
- gather background information and engage in discussions with developers prior to the city awarding a detailed design of the event centre to an architectural firm; and
- assist with negotiating term sheets with the Sudbury Wolves and the Sudbury Five with the aim of securing a new lease with the teams as part of the team’s commitment to a new building.
The near-unanimous vote of city council included dissenting votes by Ward 7 Coun. Natalie Labbée, Ward 11 Coun. Bill Leduc and Ward 5 Coun. Mike Parent, who expressed concerns about going with a single-source contract — “For fairness and transparency,” Labbée explained.
Cecutti cautioned that putting it through the bids and tenders process would deviate from the project’s current timeline, in which the arena/events centre is slated to open by May 2028.
“It would be challenging for council to find as cost-effective a proponent in a timely manner,” he said, also crediting KKR Advisors Ltd. managing director Ron Bidulka with having already worked on past incarnations of the events centre as part of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.
Although admittedly on the fence about going single-source, which he called “unusual,” Ward 10 Coun. Fern Cormier said Bidulka already has the lay of the land and has a proven track record with the city.
Cecutti clarified that the scope of work KKR Advisors Ltd. is undertaking will not be that of the project manager — a position the city has not yet filled and which he said could either go internally or externally, though internally would require a “complex reassignment of projects.”
Their findings will factor into various other parallel municipal efforts, such as the Downtown Master Plan update, in guiding the arena/events centre project.
Decisions on such things as location will be made by city staff, led by a steering committee headed by city CAO Ed Archer and filled out by members of the city’s leadership team and other staff members with specialized knowledge.
When it comes to decision-making, city council members made their big decision on April 16, 2024, when they greenlit a $200-million arena/events centre in Downtown Sudbury. This joined various other decisions around purchasing and demolishing downtown properties in setting the groundwork for city staff to proceed with the project.
Although city council’s main decision point to build an events centre has already been made, Cecutti explained to Sudbury.com following Tuesday’s meeting that they’ll still have various decisions to make along the way, including that day’s decision to select KKR Advisors Ltd.
(The decision to select KKR Advisors Ltd. was made by city council and not staff because the city’s procurement bylaw dictates single-source contracts must be approved by city council.)
Changes in scope and budget would necessitate further decision points of city council, plus anything outside the four walls of the project “which has an implication for the organization or community as a whole,” Cecutti said.
On this front, the city has spent the last several months purchasing a large swath of downtown land and demolishing buildings not only to make way for the arena but also for ancillary services.
City council still needs to decide what to do with this land.
There are also “complementary parallel activities going on” that require city council decision points, such as term sheets (terms and conditions) with the Sudbury Wolves — the arena’s anchor tenant.
“That’s not part of the capital project, but it’s impossible to finish the design until you know what your tenants’ requirements are,” Cecutti explained.
City council will continue to receive quarterly updates on the events centre/arena project.
During Tuesday’s meeting, several staff members from Wacky Wings were in attendance, sitting silently in the council chambers gallery.
Although the city was able to negotiate deals with all other affected property owners, they are expropriating the Wacky Wings property — a process city solicitor and clerk Eric Labell said is “well underway,” and they expect to finalize by the end of September.
Wacky Wings general manager Sean Voisin said that he was not ready to speak on the record yet, but that he’d let Sudbury.com know as soon as he is.
Late last year, Wacky Wings owner Craig Burgess told Sudbury.com that the city’s expropriation of his property was “heartbreaking,” and that his preference would have been for his restaurant to accompany the city’s proposed arena project.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.
