Sudbury's KED arena in jeopardy with budget increase, say critics

Critics of Greater Sudbury's divisive Kingsway Entertainment District say they believe a proposed arena and event centre could be dead on arrival, now that its budget has more than doubled from earlier estimates.

A city staff report on Wednesday, July 6, said the budget for the proposed arena and events centre had gone up to $215 million, up from $100 million five years earlier, when the project was first proposed.

The staff report said delays due to groups that oppose the KED have led to increased costs.

"Delays in the project have stretched to beyond five years and pushed the detailed cost analysis to 2022," the report said.

"These new estimates, prepared in the context of the pandemic, supply chain shortages and extraordinary inflationary pressures, are significantly higher than previous estimates but in line with industry trends."

John Lindsay is the president of the Minnow Lake Restoration Group, which has an ongoing lawsuit against the city where it alleges there was inadequate consultation on the environmental impacts of the KED development.

Lindsay said he couldn't comment on the lawsuit, which is still awaiting a decision following an appeal, but said it was clear from recent media reports that city councilors were shocked by the updated budget for the proposed arena and events centre.

Lindsay said suggestions from councillors like Robert Kirwan and Bill Leduc, that the arena could be downsized to save costs, are not realistic.

"I mean the idea that we would downsize it, well, downsize it to what?" he said.

"We already have an arena downtown similar to the one in North Bay that was renovated quite successfully for a very relatively small amount of money. Can we do the same thing to our downtown arena if it really does need renovation, if it does need that amount?"

Blaming KED opponents

Lindsay added that he took issue with the staff report's reasons for the cost overruns, and tying them back to delays from groups like his.

"We live in a democracy," he said.

"It's the right of every citizen to observe what's going on and to make comments, and in some cases, to oppose. This is a normal process."

Lindsay said it wasn't his intent to delay the project, but to get access to all the information available about its potential impact on the environment.

Christopher Duncanson-Hales was part of a group of religious leaders in Sudbury that opposed plans for a casino at the KED.

Duncanson-Hales said he would have preferred a downtown arena, but was not necessarily against building the arena along the Kingsway.

But like Lindsay, he said the updated budget makes it unlikely it will become a reality.

"My own councillor, Bill Leduc, is now suggesting we should go back to the drawing board and build an economy arena rather than a Cadillac. Seems to me like he's grasping at straws, especially when we have a great fixer-upper downtown," he said.

Duncanson-Hales said he will wait and see what happens on Tuesday. That day Sudbury city council will have its first meeting since the news the budget for the arena had more than doubled.

"We really have to come together as a Greater Sudbury and move forward," he said.

"And we need to really have people that are going to look after that."