Preserving heritage and history are front and centre in a series of recommendations the city has compiled from months of community engagement sessions for the arena/event centre project.
Among the recommendations are a push to retain the wolf on a wire, that Indigenous heritage be honoured and local and natural materials be used in its construction.
Community members have also requested that elements from the Sudbury Community Arena, such as bricks, be repurposed in the new building for historic impact.
Unless a private investor steps forward, the Sudbury Community Arena is slated to be demolished as soon as the new event centre opens to replace its functions.
The wolf on a wire is a longstanding tradition for Sudbury Wolves hockey games in which a taxidermied wolf on a wire is pulleyed across the arena on a clothesline whenever the local team scores a goal.
In addition to heritage elements, the public has called for the new arena/event centre to improve accessibility, enhance community connection and ensure there’s adequate parking.
The city has planned for a dispersed parking model in which patrons park across a swath of downtown Sudbury using existing parking spots.
Despite public allegations to the contrary, there are no plans to build a municipal parking structure.
Accessibility has been an ongoing concern with the existing Sudbury Community Arena, and in 2023, Ward 12 Coun. Joscelyne Landry-Altmann pledged, “accessibility is and will forever be at the forefront” in discussions around the new event centre.
“The architectural team has been busy reviewing all your feedback and working on developing the design of the new downtown event centre,” according to the city’s summary of public engagement.
Images of the design are anticipated in the coming weeks, which Sudbury.com will publish a report on as soon as it becomes available.
The summary of community engagement campaigns to date is available on the city’s Over to You page, where ideas can still be submitted.
On this page, resident Martyn Artem has recommended integrating Esports (video game sports) into its design to accommodate such things as big-screen digital competitions.
Recommendations gathered thus far include the results of 10 engagement sessions and pop-up displays at community events the city hosted between March and May of this year.
A parallel Indigenous-focused community engagement effort also took place during this timeframe, which included information gathering sessions at Atikameksheng Anishnawbek First Nation on March 18, Wahnapitae First Nation on March 20, and with Indigenous community organizations on May 12 and May 28.
Indigenous community engagement yielded numerous cultural requests, including an eastern ceremonial doorway, representation of the four sacred medicines in each quadrant, Indigenous art and numerous points of cultural imagery and elements from the natural world.
Public feedback also focused on respecting the land and Indigenous peoples through such things as demonstrating sustainability, stewardship and responsibility toward the environment, honouring the ground before construction, paying tribute and respect to Indigenous communities on which the centre is being built and displaying and acknowledgement in a prominent location in the facility.
Recommendations submitted in the general engagement thus far includes:
- Honour Indigenous Heritage
- Use medicinal and native plant species (sage, cedar, sweet grass)
- Incorporate an eastern ceremonial doorway or entry point
- Incorporate a sacred fire space (at or near east entry)
- Use circles/curved lines and rounded edges
- Incorporate the medicine wheel and the four colours
- Incorporate Indigenous art by artists from the Robinson Huron territory
- Honour the ground before construction
- Display land acknowledgement in prominent location
- Increase Accessibility
- Include accessible parking spaces near entrances
- Install inclusive and accessible features in washrooms
- Improve overall accessibility compared to existing Sudbury Community Arena (parking, washrooms, facility features, lighting, sound, sightlines)
- Use Local and Natural Materials
- Use natural materials such as wood, stone, cedar, copper
- Reuse some elements from existing arena for historic impact e.g. bricks
- Demonstrate sustainability and balance with the environment
- Enhance Community Connection
- Connect to the rest of downtown to ensure walkability and promote cross-programming with other organizations
- Use the outdoor plaza as a large pre-event gathering space
- Be mindful of building scale and materiality with other nearby buildings
- Ensure Parking
- Ensure there is adequate parking, including accessible parking
Recommendations submitted in the Indigenous engagement thus far includes:
- Various Types of Events
- Potential for powwows and space for large events (Little NHL)
- Create a circular area for events (theatre in the round) in the outdoor plaza
- Eastern Access
- Incorporate an eastern ceremonial doorway or entry point
- Incorporate a sacred/ceremonial fire space - must touch the earth
- Use of cedar at eastern entrance
- Representation of the four sacred medicines in each quadrant corresponding with the north, east, west and south
- Colour, Shape, Form and Materiality
- Use circles/curved lines and rounded edges
- Incorporate the medicine wheel and the four colours
- Use medicinal and native plant species (cedar, sage, sweet grass)
- Incorporate copper - a local metal with traditional Indigenous use
- Incorporate natural aspects of the landscape into the building (rock, water, cedar, trees/wood)
- Incorporate Indigenous art by artists from the Robinson Huron territory
- Include animal representation in the building
- Keep the wolf on a wire and also incorporate other clan animals (eagle, turtle, loon, crane, bear, martin, moose) throughout the event centre
- Respect the Land and Indigenous Peoples
- Demonstrate sustainability, stewardship and responsibility towards the environment
- Honour the ground before construction
- Pay tribute and respect to the Indigenous communities of the land on which the event centre is being built
- Display a land acknowledgement in a prominent location in the facility, but avoid activism as this is not the place for that message
The city’s OverToYou public consultation page is available by clicking here.
Last month, geotechnical work was undertaken at the event centre site to help determine the shallow-ground conditions throughout the property.
Heavy construction on the new event centre isn’t expected until early next year, and it’s anticipated to open in 2028.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.