The first renderings of what Sault Ste. Marie's new arena and event facility were presented tonight to City Council.
Preliminary plans presented by Elisa Brandts of PBK Architects and Franco Pastore of Ellis Pastore Oswin Consultants show a red-brown exterior facade, a suite level with an initial 13 private suites, and a flat roof that raised snow concerns from Ward 5 Councillor David Celetti.
"It's a nice design, if you had it in Beverly Hills," said Ward 6 Councillor Frank Manzo.
The design preserves the existing tower from Memorial Gardens (shown in our illustration), which will be retained as a freestanding, separate structure in view of its heritage value.
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With only Councillor Manzo opposed, City Council agreed tonight to increase the budget for the new multi-use facility to $25 million from its current budget of $21.4 million.
Soo Greyhounds are expected to commit to a 20-year agreement to use the new facility, councillors were told.
Later today, SooToday.com is planning to post lots of additional images prepared by the architects.
These images were shot from a screen in a darkened Council Chamber and are therefore grainy.
Where appropriate, some images will be posted in larger-than-usual format and you'll need to use your browser's arrow keys to view them in their entirety.