BY SCOTT HUNTER HADDOW
It?s happening all over the city.
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Construction continues near the Home Depot off The Kingsway. |
Blasting is clearing rock for new developments at a furious pace and excavators are clearing the way for major construction projects to move forward.
Almost everywhere one looks in the City of Greater Sudbury, they can find some form of construction taking place.
Sudbury is experiencing a major construction boom recently with major developments popping up all over in the retail, industrial, residential, educational and medical sectors.
Art Potvin, manager of development services with the city, hasn?t seen this much activity in the construction industry for a long time.
?The early 80s was the last time we saw a real push in development,? said Potvin, who has been working for the city since 1976. ?It seems to have started with the retail push of late, and continued in other areas.?
The retail sector is experiencing the majority of the boom.
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Major site preparation work is taking place near the Southridge Mall in the city?s South End. |
Almost every major mall in the city is currently under construction with expansion and re-development projects.
The New Sudbury Centre will see Future Shop move from its current location to the old Sears tire location. The existing Future shop site will be leveled and made into more parking.
Swiss Chalet is moving from the mall to a stand alone site in the parking lot across from the Canadian Tire gas station.
The existing Wal-Mart store will also be leveled and made into more parking space. Wal-Mart is to relocate south of the mall.
New Sudbury Centre officials are expected to issue a press release soon about all the construction and news.
Down the street, the Supermall is also seeing a major construction phase, as Steve?s Independent store becomes bigger.
Steve?s is expanding into the existing building and coupled with other new expansion, will see the store grow to over 100,000 square feet.
?It will certainly be the biggest Independent Grocer store in Sudbury, maybe Northern Ontario,? said Potvin.
On the Kingsway, the Rio Can Centre is gobbling up real estate with a massive expansion.
?They are expanding behind the Home Depot with a 170,000 square foot development,? said Potvin. ?They are building three separate sites with five separate buildings. There?s over 15 potentially new business going in such as PetsMart, Old Navy and Sportsmart.?
The Rio Can Centre development is also pouring money into a new road that will allow vehicle and citizen traffic into the development off of Second Avenue, to help reduce traffic congestion.
The new road is only the start.
?Next summer, Rio Can is doing intersection improvements at the Kingsway and Falconbridge Road, and Barrydowne and the Kingsway as part of their commitment to improve traffic flow,? said Potvin.
Right across from the Rio Can Centre, construction is being completed on Sudbury?s first Keg Restaurant. Further down the Kingsway, Lorne Properties is developing a 10,000 square foot strip mall.
In the South End, another huge expansion is seeing the Southridge Mall expand by over 100,000 square feet. Zellers is expected to move into the new expansion. A tenant to replace Zellers has yet to be named.
Wal-Mart is still expected to build a store in the South End as well.
An application has been approved, but the potential new site is embroiled in a legal dispute with the Ontario Municipal Board that will be resolved in the future.
?Wal-Mart still seems to be interested in opening a new store in the South End, but they haven?t committed to anything to date,? said Potvin.
Potvin and other city officials would love to see more retail development take place in the South End to relieve traffic problems in New Sudbury.
The Rainbow Centre is also active with renovations going on constantly.
Retail isn?t the only booming sector in Sudbury.
Potvin indicated there is the potential for two new hotel developments as well, one in the South End and the other in the New Sudbury area. No concrete details are available yet.
The residential sector has also exploded.
In July alone, there were 44 urban house starts, an increase of 33 per cent over last year.
To date, there have been 186 housing starts, and increase of 25.7 per cent over last year.
?There?s new subdivisions going up all over the place,? said Potvin. ?There?s three or four developing in the South End.?
There are also housing developments springing up in Walden, Garson, Minnow Lake and northern New Sudbury.
The educational sector also continues to grow.
The big three, Cambrian College, Laurentian University and College Boreal, all have some form of construction going on.
Boreal is building student residences, Cambrian is constructing a new student centre, and Laurentian is completing the new Northern Ontario Medical
School.
