Not Another Arena Debate: Why Sudbury Needs to Finally Build the Downtown Event Centre

Look, I thought we were done with this.

When city council unanimously greenlit the $200-million downtown arena and event centre, I honestly let out a breath I didn't realize I'd been holding since I moved back to the Nickel City. After the endless, exhausting saga of the Kingsway Entertainment District (KED)—a project that dragged on for years before mercifully collapsing under its own weight—we finally had a unified vision. We were finally going to build something that made sense. Something that would anchor the core of the city, support local businesses, and give us a proper gathering space.

But this is Sudbury. And in Sudbury, it seems like we’re never actually done arguing until the concrete is poured (and sometimes even after).

With the October 2026 municipal election slowly coming into focus, the arena debate is being resurrected from the dead. Specifically, mayoral hopeful Bill Leduc has thrown down the gauntlet, promising to kill the downtown event centre project entirely if elected.

It’s the ultimate "cut off your nose to spite your face" election strategy, and quite frankly, we shouldn't fall for it.

The Real Cost of "Killing It"

I get the sticker shock. $200 million is a massive amount of money. But what people who advocate for "killing the project" fail to mention is the astronomical cost of doing nothing.

Every year we delay, construction costs go up. Every year we drag our feet on a major infrastructure project, we send a loud and clear message to developers, young professionals, and investors: Sudbury isn't serious about growing. We tell them we’re perfectly fine settling for an aging, crumbling barn that was past its prime a decade ago.

When I moved back from Toronto, it was because I saw a city that was shedding its old industrial skin. We traded the grey soot for craft breweries, world-class trails, and a vibrant arts scene. But to sustain that momentum, you need anchor infrastructure. You need a modern event centre that can actually draw tier-one concerts, host proper conventions, and keep the downtown core buzzing after 5:00 PM.

Stop Relitigating the Past

The KED was a mistake. We spent years fighting over a sprawling development on the outskirts of town that went against every modern urban planning principle in the book. But the city learned from it. Council pivoted, listened to the experts, and backed a downtown location—exactly where major arenas are supposed to be.

Now, instead of celebrating that rare moment of civic alignment, we have candidates like Leduc promising endless town halls, referendums, and ultimately, the death of the project. It’s a classic political wedge issue: stoke outrage over taxes without offering a viable alternative.

But "nothing" isn't an alternative. Watching our current arena decay while other northern cities pass us by isn't a strategy.

Building the City We Deserve

If we want Sudbury to be a place that attracts talent rather than exporting it down the Highway 400 corridor, we have to start acting like a modern city. And modern cities build things. They make hard choices, they invest in their downtowns, and they look forward, not backward.

Let’s not turn the 2026 election into a referendum on a decision we already made. Let’s focus on how to maximize the impact of this new event centre, how to connect it to our existing trails and businesses, and how to make Sudbury the indisputable capital of the North.

We have the grit. We have the vision. Now, for the love of God, let’s just get the shovels in the ground.