City Councillor Says Arena Needs To Stay Downtown

By: Nick Liard

In just one week, city council will decide the location of an arena/event centre and Ward 1 Councillor, Mark Signoretti has made his stance quite clear.

With a consultants report out saying the recommended location should be downtown, Signoretti says they have one kick at the can on this decision and have to make the right one.

He isn’t sure how his fellow councillors will vote but says no developer has offered to pay for an arena so if council chooses outside the downtown and the arena paid for by taxpayers is unsuccessful, they will have to live with it.

A report from Price Waterhouse Cooper says downtown would be the preferred site for a new arena/event centre.

However PWC Consultants says the Kingsway is the highest rated site for two of the three criteria identified by city council as being of the highest importance with downtown finishing second.

In it’s executive summary section…the Kingsway site was given top marks for on-site parking as well as it’s potential to be the city’s new entertainment district. The disadvantages included it’s location to the Sudbury landfill site, the need to re-zone and the substantial amount of blasting required.

The downtown site earned high marks for having the proper zoning in place and it falls into place with the city’s strategic vision. The downside is the lack of convenient parking and not all option agreements with land owners are in place.

But Signoretti says parking isn’t the issue that many people think.

He also hinted that something could be coming in the future that would help with the downtown parking concerns.

The document goes to council meeting next Tuesday where councillors will choose between the two.