SUDBURY -- City councillors in Sault Ste. Marie approved a plan Monday by an 8-3 vote to replace the aging W.J. McMeeken Centre with a new twin-pad facility that could open in September 2022.

But Mayor Christian Provenzano, who voted in favour, said he would pull his support if tenders for the project came back significantly higher than the staff estimates provided in a report to council.

"We need this type of facility," Provenzano said. "(But) I will not support it if the tender comes back significantly higher" than $28.2 million.

He also expressed disappointment the federal and provincial government isn't helping to fund the project and directed city staff to keep an eye out as more programs are announced in case the twin-pad arena is eligible under future programs.

The project would include an 85,000 square-foot facility with two NHL-size ice pads and 10 change rooms. The seating capacity for one rink would be 750 spectators and the second would have 300 seats.

Debt repayment

The annual debt repayment over 25 years would be roughly $1.43 million a year, thanks to a 2.14 per cent interest rate the city has secured. The debt repayments would be funded through other debts Sault Ste. Marie has coming off the books in the next three years. That includes just more than $1 million in 2021 as debts for GFL Memorial Gardens and John Rhodes Community Centre are retired. There would be another $581,881 from the GFL in 2022, and $71,060 from the Northern Community Centre in 2023, for a total of $1.724 million available to fund the twin-pad project.

Under the plan approved Monday, tenders would go out early in the new year, with construction to begin in spring 2021 and ending in September 2022. The McMeeken Centre would then be demolished at a cost of $1 million, an amount included in the overall $28.2 million budget.

While the project passed easily, some councillors would have preferred building a one-pad rink at a cost of $16 million to $20 million, and directing the savings to infrastructure repairs.

Ward 1 Coun. Paul Christian said paying the full cost of the new facility during the COVID-19 pandemic was too much to ask of residents.

"It's the taxpayers that has to pay for it," Christian said, adding he was concerned about taking on so much debt at a time when so many areas need to be addressed.

One-pad option

The one-pad option would free up $400,000 in funding that could go to road or other repairs.

"We need to get serious about our other infrastructure deficits," Christian said.

But Ward 3 Coun. Matthew Shoemaker said the current city council was forced to make this decision because of the shortsighted decisions of past councils.

"We're in this position because past councils opted not to spend the money when it was optimal to do so," Shoemaker said.

Since 2009, the cost of a one-pad arena has risen from $9.5 million to $20 million, he said. Building a one-pad rink now would force future city councils to spend significantly more when other arenas need to be replaced.

"Instead of $20 million for a single pad, it will be $40 million," Shoemaker said, adding it would be shortsighted to not bite the bullet now.