THUNDER BAY – The proposed event and convention centre remains a significant infrastructure priority for municipal leaders.
Earlier this week a city delegation attended the Ontario Good Roads Association and Rural Ontario Municipal Association meetings in Toronto where they met with a number of provincial cabinet ministers to discuss key local issues.
Coun. Joe Virdiramo, who is also chair of the city’s intergovernmental affairs committee, said the contentious event centre project was a top ask.
“I know people will say ‘are you still on that’ and yes we are,” he said Thursday afternoon.
Momentum on the project has stalled over the past year after the former Conservative federal government refused to allow the city to use Building Canada and Federal Gas Tax funding to finance Ottawa’s share of the then-$114 million arena and convention centre.
That appears to have put an end to the Thunder Bay Live! consortium, a partnership that included the Winnipeg Jets and would have seen the organization’s American Hockey League affiliate play out of the new arena.
Last September city administration began exploring a plan that would see the facility built with the Lakehead Thunderwolves men’s hockey team serving as the primary tenants. At the time council directed administration to keep considering options.
But Virdiramo said that doesn’t change the need for a new building.
“We need to replace the Fort William Gardens. We’re not going to leave that for fear in the event there’s federal and provincial money available, why would we put that aside,” Virdiramo said.
“We’ve always said the event centre will be done when the feds and provinces come to the table with the finances required for that. We do have money in the bank for it. We continue to push that and we’ve gotten to a point where it’s almost shovel ready.”
One major change is the election of a federal Liberal government, which city officials believe might take a different look at the project.
Virdiramo said the city is waiting for the provincial and federal budgets to be released to determine the next steps.
“With the new government the province is certainly waiting to see what the federal government is going to do,” he said. “We’ll see what comes out of that and where we stand. We continue to look at partnerships for any of our projects and that’s one project we’re looking for private partnerships.”
