After the City Council rejected both the administration’s $215 million proposal for the Kingsway Entertainment District and an alternative proposal calling for a $150 million version, the long-discussed project is effectively dead
Greater Sudbury City Council was unanimous in rejecting the administration’s $215 million Kingsway Entertainment District proposal during today’s meeting.
Between that and a failed proposal to scale the project down to $150 million, the long-discussed KED is now dead.
Today’s meeting was the latest in a series of city council go/no-go moments for the municipal arena/event center project, but it’s the first time since its approval in 2017 that a majority of city council members have taken a no-no position .
The $150 million alternative project proposal was presented by Ward 5 Coun. Robert Kirwan and Ward 11 earl. Bill Leduc, who supported him themselves.
Their proposal would have allowed the city to move to the next phase of the progressive design and construction process, which would have lasted several months and cost an estimated $3 million.
“At least this way we’ll get to the second state to potentially see if the event center can be built for $150 million,” Leduc said. “It’s obviously looking to lower the price, which I think is achievable.”
The main argument against the alternative project is that it would not create the same building that a narrow majority of the City Council has consistently supported over the past five years.
Targeting Ward 5 Coun. Robert Kirwan’s claim of a $150 million municipal arena/event center could be “good enough,” Ward 10 Coun. Fern Cormier said, “Boy oh boy, is this who we want to be. That’s what we would spend $150 million on?”
“I can’t support spending $150 million to create a pretty good arena when we already have a pretty good arena,” Ward 4 Coun. Geoff McCausland added later, pointing to the existing 70-year-old Sudbury Community Arena downtown.
Although the project’s private partners, including Genesis Hospitality (hotel), Gateway Casinos (casino) and developer Dario Zulich, confirmed last week that they remain on board with the project, it remains to be seen where they stand after today’s city council decision.
Until today’s meeting, the approved budget for KED was $100 million, which included $90 million in debt and $10 million in fundraising. Last week’s report by city Engineering Services Director David Shelstead was the first indication that the cost had reached $215 million.
With today’s vote effectively killing KED, the city’s director of strategic initiative, communications and citizen services Ian Wood told Sudbury.com that a report will be prepared to formalize the project’s termination.
The process is “designed for that decision point by the council,” he said, adding that without signed agreements binding them to anything beyond today, there should be no legal ramifications for the city council’s withdrawal from the project.
The city has spent roughly $3.7 million on the project to date, plus “at least half a million” in unpaid invoices, Shelstead told Sudbury.com.
The exact numbers will be hashed out in a report to the city council in the near future, along with other requirements that may accompany their decision to shut down the project. That report will include details surrounding the return of land that was essentially gifted to the city through a nominal fee for the municipal arena/event center back to the developer, Mayor Brian Bigger said.
It is not known what the city will do with the remainder of the $90 million in debt they have already secured for the project, whose final price will be reduced.
“I think the new council will decide what the priorities are,” Biggar told local media during a scrum after today’s meeting, where he also made it clear that a renewal of the KED plan was unlikely anytime soon given various points of ongoing global uncertainty .
In the hours leading up to today’s meeting, the current slate of mayoral candidates advocated for the next incarnation of the city council, elected on Oct. 24, to decide how to proceed.
Several people attended today’s city council meeting carrying signs calling on the city to end the project and invest in the downtown area. However, before the meeting began, security at Tom Davis Square informed them that their signs would not be allowed inside the building.
“To me, this is a silencing of democracy and a silencing of opinions,” protester Denise Larocque told Sudbury.com outside the building, where they gathered to pose for a photo before putting away their signs.
Another protester, Patrick Crowe, said it was in line with the city’s direction so far.
“They never actually asked the people of the city to see if they even wanted to have a giant arena built next to the very active landfill,” he said.
“We don’t want to shut down democracy … and we don’t want to be excluded from it.”
Recognizing long-standing and passionate opposition to KED, Ward 9 Coun. Deb McIntosh took a moment during today’s meeting to acknowledge the efforts of city staff and make it clear that they were only following the direction given to them by a majority vote of the city council.
“I’m sorry to the staff for the unfair public opinion, the public criticism they’ve had to go through,” she said, adding that those unhappy with what happened or how this project ended should know “the buck stops ” with the city council.
Tyler Clark covers City Hall and political issues for Sudbury.com.
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