Firm designing Thunder Bay arena makes pitch in Sudbury

An architect with a B.C.-based firm made a presentation to the Sudbury Wolves and some city officials Nov. 23 on the latest trends in arena construction.

However, the pitch by Conrad Boychuk, of CEI Architecture, shouldn’t be viewed as a sign the city is close to deciding whether to replace the 61-year-old Sudbury Arena on Elgin Street.

Wolves GM Blaine Smith said Boychuk was already in Thunder Bay, where CEI is working on an arena project, and offered to come to Sudbury to speak on the latest trends in arena design and development.

“There was no proposal,” Smith said. “It was just an information meeting, that’s all. He wanted to come and see Sudbury Arena, and have a look around … We’re looking down the road from a hockey team perspective.”

Since Boychuk was interested in talking to the Wolves, Smith said he decided to invite city officials to come and hear what the architect had to say.

“He was coming here to meet with me and (Sudbury Wolves owner) Mark Burgess,” Smith said. “He was coming here to let us know that he was working on a project in another part of the province, and (to keep him in mind) if we were interested in doing something at some point in the future.

CEI has designed several sports facilities in Canada, including arenas. Its plans for a multi-purpose centre in Thunder Bay is estimated to cost about $106 million, with the city paying $25 million. It would include a conference and entertainment centre, while the arena would accommodate about 5,700 people. The project is part of that city’s five-year, $130-million urban renewal plan that includes a major waterfront redevelopment.

It would replace Thunder Bay’s Fort Williams Gardens which, like Sudbury Arena, was built in the 1950s. While it’s getting closer to being built, Thunder Bay has taken its time. The feasibility study for the new arena was completed in 2009, with a final decision on whether to proceed to the next stage — getting funding from other governments and the private sector — is expected by the end of 2012.

As part of the new arena, the city hopes to attract an OHL or AHL team.

“Thunder Bay is a similar-sized market,” Smith said. “So it was a sales call for Boychuk, to try and get us thinking that, if and when the time ever comes, to give him a call. He can share his expertise and what he’s going through in Thunder Bay.”

Ward 7 Coun. Dave Kilgour, who attended the Nov. 23 meeting with Boychuk, said he gave city officials an overview of what has been done in about 12 other municipalities that have built new arenas.

“He was trying to sell his services, more than anything else,” Kilgour said. “I think it was informative, but I don’t think we were any closer at the end of the day to deciding what’s going to happen in Sudbury.”

While a decision will have to be made on Sudbury Arena in the next couple of years, Kilgour said the location of the casino that’s going to be built in Sudbury will have to be determined first.

“For us, as a city, to take a look at a standalone arena, without taking a look at some of the other potential developments coming in the next couple of years, would be folly,” he said. “We don’t know where the casino is going to end up, but if it does end up downtown, maybe there’s some synergies that can be made. If you’ve got a casino, they may be looking at some sort of entertainment venue there, as well, so you don’t want to build a casino with an entertainment centre, and then turn around and build an arena with another entertainment centre. They’d just compete against each other.”

But in the big picture, Kilgour said he likes the model used in London, Ont., where the Budweiser Gardens (formerly the John Labatt Centre) was built a decade ago through a partnership with the municipality, a builder and an entertainment group.

“I think they do about 120 non-hockey events a year, hosting concerts and things like that,” he said. “And that’s the growing trend. As you move forward, if you’re going to build something, you might as well build a multi-purpose facility. You can’t make an arena pay based on 40 or 50 nights of hockey a year.”

The group running the Budweiser Gardens manages to book enough events every year that the centre is turning a profit. It’s a model that could potentially work here, Kilgour said.

“They paid the city back, the prior year, something like $750,000 or $800,000 in revenue,” Kilgour said. “And they were anticipating moving forward that it would be closer to $1 million. So if you can build something like that where you’re going to derive a benefit, it makes it a viable operation. It’s not just a drain all the time.

“I’m fairly certain over the next few years, we’re going to have to do something. There’s no two ways about it … If we want to be a major-league city as far as hockey is concerned, at the OHL level, you’ve got to keep up with the other municipalities.”

For his part, Smith said his focus is on getting the struggling Wolves back on track. He sparked the current debate on replacing the arena in September, when a power outage delayed the start of a Wolves exhibition game. While the outage was unrelated to the arena, Smith highlighted other problems with the arena – old wiring, leaks, drainage problems, etc.

“Since that incident, things have really settled down,” Smith said. “And to be honest, my focus right now is on the hockey team, to try and get things turned around here and get us on the winning track.”

Calls to Conrad Boychuk’s Vancouver office looking for details of his presentation to the Wolves and the city weren't returned.