Sudbury city council gets first look at proposed Kingsway Entertainment District

Sudbury city councillors got their first glimpse of what the proposed Kingsway Entertainment District could look like.

Cumulus, an architecture firm based out of Toronto, presented a replica model to the city last night and outlined some of its features.

The proposed plan combines an arena, hotel and casino, with room allotted for further expansion. The separate components would be joined by a pedestrian bridge. And in this vision, a green space would roll across the site, letting people join up to walking paths on Levesque Street and Bancroft Drive.

The project is modelled after similar facilities in Edmonton, Toronto and Texas. 

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As for parking, the site can accommodate more than 2,400 vehicles, said Paul Szaszkiewicz, a principal architect with Cumulus.

"Parking is as much an art as a science — 2,400 is an evolving number," Szaszkiewicz said. He said they break down peak driving times during events to get a sense of how much traffic will flow into the site.

"In the end... each of the individual users are satisfied their parking needs are being met. If they're not, each of these components will fail."

Dario Zulich, whose vision for the district was a catalyst behind council's decision to locate on the Kingsway, said he's ecstatic about seeing the plans.

"It's finally jumping from 2D to 3D. It's finally taking shape. You can walk around and feel it."

Szaszkiewicz also told council he was impressed with how quickly the plan took shape.  Zulich said getting things done quickly is how he likes to work, something made easier when partners believe they're working together towards a bigger goal.

"It's only been two months since the city came together with the architect, and we're meeting every day, every second day," Zulich said. "The foot's to the floor on this one. It's a real unbelievable feeling of camaraderie and working together."

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But not all the city councillors share the developer's enthusiasm.

Ward 1 Councillor Mark Signoretti peppered Szaszkiewicz with questions after the architect's presentation, asking who was going to pay for the infrastructure needed for further development of the site.

"Council passed a motion about an events centre, not about a hotel or casino," Signoretti said, referring to the divisive June vote which saw council select the Kingsway site over downtown for its new arena.

Signoretti  also asked why in comparable projects, the arenas were located downtown, not on the outskirts.

"That's kind of loaded. I'm not going to debate the location decision downtown or not," Szaszkiewicz said.

"The Kingsway offers so many great opportunities to custom build an ecosystem."