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The big reveal of Thunder Bay’s arena plan

More details will emerge Sept. 15 on the capital costs and design of Thunder Bay’s proposed hockey arena and convention hall.
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More details will emerge Sept. 15 on the capital costs and design of Thunder Bay’s proposed hockey arena and convention hall.

More details will emerge Sept. 15 on the capital costs and design of Thunder Bay’s proposed hockey arena and convention hall.

Pricewaterhouse Coopers, the city’s consultants, will be presenting the feasibility study and the $109-million project’s business plan at the city’s committee of the whole, for information purposes only, before it heads to council for consideration, Sept. 29.

A Sept. 10 release from the city said the final report will include a schematic design up to 20 per cent detail level, an updated business plan, construction job forecast, first-year operating costs, economic spinoffs, tax revenues for government, a parking and traffic report, and the results of an Ipsos Reid public opinion poll.

A 5,730-seat hockey arena is being called for with an adjoining conference and convention hall of 43,877 square-foot of space.

The consultants recommend that city administration head to a fourth phase of the project which involves going to Queen’s Park and Ottawa for money and firming up financing from the private sector.

The total gross capital cost is $109.0 million, which encompasses a proposed Guaranteed Maximum Price of $101.1 million, is subject to council’s approval of a Design Build agreement with PCL Contractors, should the project proceed to a fifth phase of detailed design and construction.

In attendance at the meeting will be representatives from the city’s private sector partner, Thunder Bay LIVE!, the consortium which includes True North Sports and Entertainment of Winnipeg, the owners of the Winnipeg Jets hockey team. True North wants to relocate its minor league affiliate club from St. John’s, NL to Thunder Bay and into a new state-of-the-art arena.

The so-called Thunder Bay Event Centre would be a replacement for aging Fort William Gardens, which was built in the 1950s.

“The Phase 3 final report is really about due diligence and, subject to council’s support, will allow the proposed project to move to the next phase,” said Michael Smith, the city’s general manager of community services. “The extensive work completed to date, including public consultation, is essential to maximizing government and private sector funding.”