Sudbury Arts Council holds 'proactive' open forum on downtown arena

A brain storming session at the Sudbury Community Arena Wednesday night was all about the future.

The Sudbury Arts Council held an open forum to discuss possible uses for the downtown building if a replacement facility is built. Around 40 people shared their ideas, including using the space as an alternative sports facility, a museum or a multicultural hub.

KristaPaul is a member of the Nickel City Roller Derby. She said different athletes like derby players or boxers could use the space year-round to grow their skills and increase the popularity of those sports in Sudbury.

"We have a large population of people in the city who are doing stuff like that, that I think need to be catered to more," Paul said.

Arena part of a 'larger solution' to downtown

Mike Ladyk is an architect in Sudbury and helped answer more technical questions about the building. He said repurposing the building could mean big things for revitalizing downtown, but the city has to consider surrounding infrastructure before they make any plans.

That's because the arena was built for an older city model. One example is that the building opens up onto Elgin Street because it faces the train station thepopular form of transportation when the arena was built. To disregard that entirely would make things difficult for the downtown.

"The problem is, everyone is always putting together the small pieces and they're not putting together the whole," Ladyk said.

"I think if you're going to look at this facility, you have to get out onto the streets. It's not just a micro piece to the downtown puzzle. it's part of a larger solution," said Ladyk.

Meeting moot?

The discussion lasted close to two hours. Many people mentioned the meeting was a moot point since city council hasn't finalized any plans for a new arena.

Gerry Labelle used to be a member of the arts council and facilitated the discussion. He said the meeting was proactive, and the ideas can be brought up when city council makes concrete plans for the current or new arena.

"If something does come down, wecan say we've been having this discussion," Labelle said."Here are some of the ideas we've come up with. We don't have to start over again and we're not in panic mode."

City council has yet to to make an official decisionabout a possible new events centre or arena. Councillors are waiting for a consultant's report on the current arena's needs.