Every successful city can boast of a vibrant core and arenas have always been built in city centres where they are most easily accessible to the public.
 
WE, THE UNDERSIGNED endorse a renovated arena and entertainment complex to be built at the site of the existing “Sudbury Community Arena” in the City Centre where all roads lead. Adjacent to the public transit hub, this new complex will accelerate the urban renaissance of Sudbury’s downtown as evidenced by the new Place des Arts, the Laurentian University McEwen School of Architecture, the YMCA, Tom Davies Square, the Ontario Government buildings, as well as the many restaurants and bars and patios and hotels and theatres and shops currently operating downtown.
 
In demanding a downtown location, we strongly reject the misguided scheme proposing a new arena be built far away from the City Centre, adjacent to the municipal dump, on unserviced land at the far end of the Kingsway, where only one road leads, accessible to automobiles only, while requiring additional public investment in hydro, municipal water and sewage, traffic control, roads and street lighting. The promoters of the Kingsway Entertainment District (KED) imagine they can seduce the public with promises of casinos and hotels, none of which are necessarily in the public interest nor is there any guarantee they will actually be built. We emphatically urge the council of the City of Greater Sudbury to reject this scheme.
 
But If the Council cannot be convinced by ours and many other voices rejecting the KED in favour of a downtown arena, it can respect all opposing views on this consequentially important project by submitting the decision to a binding referendum so the voters themselves can determine how their tax dollars will be spent.
 
A vibrant City Centre provides the best future for our city and our families!