FAQs

In April 2024, City Council voted unanimously to proceed with building a new event centre in Greater Sudbury’s downtown south district rather than renovating the Sudbury Community Arena. 

Based on comprehensive analysis, it was determined that a new, purpose-built facility offers the best opportunity to achieve Council’s service objectives with minimal disruption to existing tenants and programming. It also creates significant potential for complementary private sector investment, further supporting economic growth and community development. The Event Centre aligns with Council’s vision for downtown south district revitalization, reinforcing its commitment to fostering a vibrant and sustainable urban core.

The Event Centre will be designed as a state-of-the-art venue to accommodate concerts, sporting events, community gatherings and other unforgettable experiences. Proposed key features include:

• Seating Capacity: 5,800 fixed seats, including general seating, club seating, loge box seating and private suites.

• Premium Suites: 20 private suites in three sizes, accommodating up to 12 people. 
• Concessions: Strategically located food and beverage stations throughout the concourse, aligned with industry best practices for guest convenience.
• Back-of-House: Well-developed facilities to support quick setup and takedown, allowing for a seamless transition between a variety of sporting and non-sporting events.

• Q3/Q4 2025 – supplemental geotechnical work and preliminary site preparation works
• Fall 2025 – perimeter fencing installed and staging areas prepared in advance of construction
• Q1/Q2 2026 – construction begins; foundation work to be followed by formation of the structural skeleton of the building
• 2027/2028 – construction continues
• Fall 2028 – event centre opens

The Event Centre will use the same dispersed parking model as the Sudbury Community Arena, with parking spread out across multiple lots and street spaces. No parking structures are being contemplated at this time.  

There are several advantages to this approach, including enhanced walkability, reduced congestion and increased support of local businesses.

There are 14 surface parking areas and one underground lot in the downtown. On-street parking is also available on Elgin, Durham, Elm, Lisgar, Larch, Cedar, Grey and Shaughnessy Streets. There are 2,182 public parking spaces available downtown; including private parking spaces, the total number of parking spaces increases to 3,648 spaces. 

Here’s how that compares to some other communities with downtown event centres

A 2024 study on parking in downtown Greater Sudbury showed that only: 

• 25 percent of public parking spaces are used during normal business hours
• 17 percent are used during Friday evening activities
• 14 percent are used during Saturday afternoon activities
• 41 percent are used on special event days. 

This shows that overall parking usage within the downtown does not reach the ideal 85 to 90 percent threshold, and that the downtown parking system is sufficient to accommodate existing and future parking demand

No. The project team acknowledges the suboptimal soil conditions prevalent throughout the downtown south district, as identified by geotechnical reports. The associated foundation costs have already been accounted for in the budgets for both the Event Centre and the Cultural Hub.

No, these costs have already been built into the $200M budget. Contingencies and allowances for items like design and construction are revised as the design evolves, and typically decrease as the understanding of proposed systems and existing conditions become clearer. Project teams have committed to quarterly updates to Council, and any major changes to schedule, budget or scope will be brought to Council for decision.