Multiplex should be in north core: Heart of the Harbour

The proposed new multiplex is years from reality, but the head of the Downtown Heart of the Harbour Business Improvement Association says her organization will make a push to have it located in the north core of Thunder Bay.

Suzan Cooper-Rochon on Thursday said the city’s designation of the Heart of the Harbour area as its entertainment district makes the multiplex a natural fit for the former Port Arthur downtown core.

"For us, what better place to put a multiplex," Cooper-Rochon said. "We already have so many things currently to support it. We have lots of parking down here. We have great restaurants, excellent dining and entertainment. We have unique shopping, we have hotels. For me, we have it all."

On Thursday evening the city is hosting its first public consultation about the facility, asking for input on what the public wants in terms of location, size and amenities, should the arena-centred complex proceed.

The meeting, which will include a presentation from city administrators and an open question and answer session, is scheduled to begin at 6:30 at the Da Vinci Centre on Waterloo Street.

A new multiplex is expected to cost about $60 million to build, with the city hoping to finance a third of the cost through its Renew Thunder Bay fund, with the rest of the money coming from various agencies of the provincial and federal governments.

Cooper-Rochon said as a businesswoman, she’s in complete favour of the multiplex being constructed and the benefits it would bring to the city.

"It would certainly be a good mix with the waterfront. People going to the multiplex would come and shop and dine, and it would be a really big step in revitalizing our downtown," Cooper-Rochon said.

Current River Coun. Andrew Foulds called it a legacy project, one that would fit nicely within Heart of the Harbour, but cautioned it’s at a very early stage of development.

"Thunder Bay needs to decide if we want a facility like this and then if we want it, what’s it going to look like. And if the answer is yes to those questions, I think we strategically need to look at locations.

"And certainly the BIA is very excited about the potential of the north core, as am I. I think there is a huge opportunity. I think putting a facility of this magnitude in a hub that creates a destination, there are huge advantages in that," Foulds said.

Cooper-Rochon said talk of a centralized bus terminal could eventually leave a large, empty parcel of land where the Water Street bus terminal stands. It’s the site that she prefers.

"We would love to see it beside the Prince Arthur Hotel," she said. "Wouldn’t that be a great space?"