The City of Greater Sudbury has issued the design-build RFP for its planned new Greater Sudbury Event Centre on January 28.

The project, which city council has endorsed as one of four priority works, calls for construction of a multi-purpose facility that can act as both a sporting venue and a concert venue. The building would feature 5,800 seats as a sporting venue, and a capacity for 6,500 for concerts, as well as seating, parking, amenities and vehicle access to the event floor.

The building will be located on the Kingsway and will be co-developed and sited alongside a casino and hotel in what has become known as the Kingsway Entertainment District.

Construction of the Event Centre will begin when the final design is complete, with a planned opening expected in 2025.

In 2017, the city shortlisted three teams for design and construction of the facility:

• Ball/TESC Construction Inc. (Joint Venture)/Architecture 49 Inc.
• EllisDon Corporation/BBB Architects Toronto Inc., in conjunction with J. L. Richards & Associates Limited
• PCL Constructors Canada Inc./Parkin Architects Ltd.

Those teams will be invited to participate in the design-build process, with the city expecting to award a contract for the project early in the third quarter of this year.

The city has allocated $100 million in its capital budget for construction.

The design-build RFP is posted to the Link2Build plansroom.

Meanwhile, the city is also expected to issue an RFP to two firms it has pre-qualified to manage and operate the facility. ASM Global and OVG Facilities, LLC will be invited to bid on the work.

The city expects to have an operator in place by the second quarter of this year.