Members of the Downtown Sudbury Business Improvement Area are on board with a plan to cover some of the costs for a potential downtown arena.
A vote was needed by members at a meeting Tuesday night to firm up a $2.2 million commitment, originally discussed earlier this month.
Jeff MacIntyre, Downtown Sudbury BIA chair, said a downtown arena is the best option for local businesses.
"Everybody that we talked to that had any expertise in this said it's a no brainer for downtown,” said MacIntyre.
“The most investment you'll see is in a downtown, the most spinoff you'll see is in a downtown. because we have the businesses here, we have the buildings here that can grow and it’s a turnkey investment for the city in the downtown and not having to start from scratch."
City council will vote on the new location of the Sudbury arena is next Tuesday. The other proposal being considered is from local developer Dario Zulich’s True North Strong group.
Zulich is proposing to build an events and entertainment centre on the Kingsway.
True North Strong is hosting a media conference at the Fromagerie on Elgin Street on Thursday at 1 p.m.
The group said the announcement will ‘complete the proposed vision for True North Strong as a part of a vibrant and growing City of Greater Sudbury’.
