The City of Greater Sudbury has published a request for proposal for architectural services for its proposed event centre, shining the brightest light to date on what the $200-million project will consist of.
With seating for 5,800 people, the proposed events centre is “virtually identical” to the building proposed as part of what was previously to be the Kingsway Entertainment District (KED), city Growth and Infrastructure general manager Tony Cecutti told Sudbury.com.
The KED, which was cancelled by city council in 2022 when its cost more than doubled to $215 million, was slated to take shape on The Kingsway and include a municipal arena/events centre alongside a casino and hotel. A newly elected city council shifted their attention to Downtown Sudbury, yielding the arena/events centre project currently being planned.
The KED included various things the downtown project does not, including the construction of a road network, parking, stormwater management facility and a shared outdoor space called Festival Square, which all three partners would have tied into.
Aside from these differences, requirements for the actual arena/events centre building are the same as previously proposed.
Within newly released tender documents for architectural services is enough information to provide a written walkthrough of what the proposed arena/events centre will consist of, as was also the case with the KED two years ago.
The 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.
The architect is to factor in enhanced accessibility, crime prevention through environmental design, $500,000 toward public art installations throughout the site, and gender-neutral considerations with regards for trans-inclusive spaces in such areas as washrooms, change rooms and shower facilities.
The tender documents list numerous component requirements, stretching from a main lobby 200-square-metres in size to a vehicle loading area in the back.
The event floor itself “will be designed for professional hockey, community use and be designed for quick conversion to a sledge-hockey venue,” according to the document.
With rink boards removed, the space could be used for basketball, concerts, trade shows, theatre, indoor soccer, indoor lacrosse rodeos, religious assemblies, powwows, conventions, banquets, gymnastics, curling bonspiels, motocross, monster trucks, circuses and graduations.
The concourse is to be designed “to provide spectators with easy access to seating,” and the document notes that adhering to minimal building code standards “does not necessarily provide an appropriate level of comfort to the spectator moving through the concourse.” It pushes for an average width of at least 4.8 metres or more for a four-sided concourse, and at least six metres for a dead-ended concourse.
Concessions will be evenly distributed throughout the concourse, including 35 permanent points of sale which will all be designed to accommodate persons with disabilities.
The number of washrooms is to exceed Ontario Building Code standards, with 35 women's toilet fixtures in larger washroom clusters and 28 toilets/urinals for the men’s washroom, plus four single universal toilets.
(These washrooms are for the main public area, with various other washrooms found throughout the building in such areas as performer spaces, offices and other less-public spaces.)
The centre will include various accommodations for performers, including a green room, change rooms and washrooms, while back-of-house vehicle entry is to allow easy access for their equipment onto the centre’s floor.
“For concerts, it’s important that the star performers have direct access to their tour buses,” the document notes, citing the inclusion of a marshaling area with room for three tour buses.
The Sudbury Wolves will also have various accommodations, including a reception area, various offices, a conference room, kitchen, washrooms and a dressing room suite with showers, a steam room, sauna and therapy pool. A fitness suite, coaches area and media room will also be included.
Although the city has purchased and earmarked a swath of downtown land for the centre and private ancillary enterprises, specific locations and private partners have not been lined up.
The request for proposals for architectural services was published on July 19, and by July 23 had received 28 plan takers. By contrast, the progressive design-build request for proposals for the KED received three plan takers, of whom two submitted proposals.
The deadline to submit requests for proposals for architectural services is Aug. 21.
Local plan takers by July 23 included Yallowega Architecture Inc., Luciw Boudreau Architecture, Danielson Architecture Office Inc., Centreline Architecture, Bélanger Salach Architecture and 3rdLine Studio.
Earlier this month, the city awarded a single-source contract for KKR Advisors Ltd. to become a project advisor, which will include analyzing existing information to help determine an ideal location within the span of a few blocks of the city’s downtown core to best suit the project.
The latest timeline anticipates the city selecting an architect by September, approving a design and cost by June 2025 and the arena/events centre opening by May 2028.
Some city council decisions may arise in the coming months, but their unanimous vote on April 16 to greenlight the $200-million project was their main decision point. Assuming the project remains within the scope and budget city council approved, it’s slated to proceed without additional significant decision points by city council regarding whether to proceed.
At the city’s latest update, they had already spent $20.42 million on purchasing and demolishing downtown properties to make way for the arena and accompanying ancillary services, plus $4.38-million on the since-cancelled KED.
The $200-million arena/events centre expense is on top of these costs, bringing the project total to $225 million. The $200-million budget includes:
- $128 million New Event Centre, including contingencies
- $18 million soil premiums to accommodate for poor ground conditions downtown
- $37 million soft costs
- $4 million on site work, not including parking
- $13 million on such things as enhanced environmental and accessibility recommendations and site works
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.
