The long, passionate debate is over.
At Tuesday evening’s meeting, Sudbury city council voted 10-2 in favour of placing a new arena and events centre on the Kingsway.
Council first voted on the downtown location - that was recommended by a consultant’s report - by the arena site committee.
The downtown was defeated in a 6-6 tie. Councillor Gerry Montpellier declared a conflict of interest and did not vote.
“Our hospitality industry has grown has done phenomenal in the last little while,” said Jeff Macintyre, Downtown Sudbury BIA board chair.
“It has been built on the crowds coming out of the arena and we've tried to build up around that and they've taken that away. They are going to make it harder for that sector which will make it harder for other sectors.”
Sudbury Wolves owner Dario Zulich was not in attendance at council's meeting, but he will now move forward with his True North Strong arena and entertainment centre.
Zulich spoke with CTV on Wednesday, during his first interview since council’s decision.
“I’m feeling very happy and like most people, I’m relieved we finally have a direction forward,” said Zulich.
“This isn’t actually about me. I’ve proposed to create, and to lead, and to build an industry for all of Sudbury and for all of Northern Ontario.”
The owner of the Sudbury Wolves' plan is for a new arena and events centre to be built on the Kingsway.
The proposal includes construction of an events centre, casino, hotel and convention centre space, along with a possible motorsports park.
“The first domino was this decision to locate the arena out there," he said.
“The destination is going to be anchored by the events centre and that will cause the casino to be co-located with it. There could be other facilities such as additional ice pads, an indoor fieldhouse for football or soccer. Anything to do with entertainment, including possibly a waterpark.”
Gateway Casinos & Entertainment said its pleased with council's decision. The company is committed to pouring $60 million into a new casino; to be located on the Kingsway site.
"This is an exciting day and an important step forward. We look forward to working with council and community partners to develop the economic and tourism potential of the True North location," said Carrie Kormos, marketing and communications vice president.
"Our Letter of Intent with True North shows our commitment to the Kingsway site. The vision for the True North location as regional entertainment district aligns well with Gateway’s approach to creating gaming and entertainment destinations in the communities where we operate. The $60 million investment Gateway will make in the local economy will also create an additional 250 new jobs which will grow the Gateway work force in Greater Sudbury to over 400 employees."
Zulich said just because the city went with the Kingsway site, doesn’t necessarily mean he will be building the arena.
“The purchase of the property is absolutely not contingent on who is going to be the constructor,” he said.
“There’s going to be many stakeholders that are going to need to work together with a common vision and a common end game in sight. That’s the only way we’re going to come out with a win in three years.”
Zulich said he expects construction to start in the spring of next year.
