If The Soo Can Do It, Why Can't Windsor

Sault Ste. Marie is a small town compared with the City of Windsor but we have our similarities. Its industries, steel and lumber, have seen their ups and downs over the years as has our auto industry and associated businesses. It borders on the US, Sault Ste. Marie Michigan while we border on Detroit. It has a bridge as an international border crossing: Sault Ste. Marie International Bridge. They have an OHL team and so do we.

There are some differences. They are about one-third our size in population. They recognized their economic difficulties early on and set up an Innovation Centre that brought them new technology jobs. In fact, they have an IT strategy. We have an Economic Development Commission with no Executive Director. They are big on call centres that brought them almost 3,000 jobs already. (I hear we may be getting a big one soon in Windsor too. Eddie would have announced it shortly to boost his campaign if he needed it but does not have to do so yet). One other big diffference...their new arena is almost built, with the Ontario government helping to pay for it. Their OHL team play their games there.

That's right, the Soo with a third our population can build and support a facility that has a seating capacity of 5,000 for hockey games and 6,500 for concerts, conventions, meetings and other attractions. It's a Sports and Entertainment Centre called the Steelback Centre. And guess how much it cost----$25 million! I have no idea what the history behind the Centre is but surely it can be nothing like the 20 year journey of Windsor which still has no end in sight.

And speaking of local content, they figured out how to do it too:

• "When the city of Sault Ste. Marie set out to build a new sports and entertainment centre, maximizing local content was high on the priority list.
  
  “We wanted to make this a showcase of local talent,” said Nick Apostle, the city’s commissioner of community services.
  
  Council did not issue a directive per se, he said. But local content was identified in the composition of design teams when requests for proposals were solicited.
  
  “That was spelled out in our documents.”

Somehow they got Government grants for their building that we seem to be unable to get: $7.4 million grant under the Canada-Ontario infrastructure program and $1 million from the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corp." Just take a look at the article below that discusses a Government grant and some details on the project.

Oh and as for the Soo's waterfront, like Windsor, they have a development plan for that too. They have a $54 million tourist development, Northern Ontario’s biggest-ever tourism project. The project includes plans for a 144 room luxury hotel, a performing arts theatre, space for retail outlets, restaurants, a 35 thousand square foot educational biodome featuring exotic tropical plants, an upscale day spa, and an ice hotel to be operated during the winter. The Ontario government provided $15 million from the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund to help build it.

It seems they have a truck problem too . But:

• "On the transportation end, the city’s truck route is to be finished by September. The $18.5-million project is part of a larger $22-million plan that will address a long-standing problem of improving the traffic flow of transport trucks around the International Bridge Plaza and through the downtown...
  
  About 60 properties were acquired and demolished by the city to make way for the three-kilometre corridor, paralleling the Canadian National Railway line and connecting the bridge to Second Line, a main transportation artery in the city’s north end that joins with the Trans Canada Highway."

Look at them and look at us. They act and can do all of this and we just talk about PLANS. We have 2 Liberal Cabinet Ministers in Windsor but we also have a Mayor who snubs the Senior levels.

Go Figure!

• Province Gives Another Million Dollars To Steelback Centre
  
  SooNews Staff -- SooNews.ca -- Friday, June 23, 2006,
  
  With City Councillors and staff present at the Civic Centre Friday, Sault Ste. Marie MPP David Orazietti announced the McGuinty government will be giving another 1 million dollars toward the new 25-million dollar Steelback Centre.
  
  This increases the province’s share of funding toward the new facility to 4.7 million dollars.
  
  Councillor James Caicco praised Orazietti, saying that he was, as his fellow Ward One City Councillor back in 2000, an integral part of the original driving force behind the new facility, and that the Steelback Centre would not have happened without his continued efforts as the city’s current MPP.
  
  Caicco thanked the province for its increased contribution, noting that other new arena projects in Ontario received no provincial funding.
  
  Orazietti announced that 35 part-time and five full-time jobs will be created at the Steelback Centre as a result of the new money, which will also go toward a sound system, a score board/clock, kitchen/concession equipment, multi-use suites and washrooms.
  
  Here is the official media release from Orazietti’s office, released Friday:
  
  The McGuinty government is continuing its support of Sault Ste. Marie’s economic growth and tourism through an additional $1 million investment in the new Steelback Centre, David Orazietti, MPP announced today.
  
  “The construction of the Steelback Centre is great news for Sault Ste. Marie; this sport, entertainment and events facility, along with the many other tourism initiatives our government is supporting, will give Sault Ste. Marie a distinct competitive advantage in the medium-size events marketplace,” said Orazietti. “By creating 35 additional part-time and 5 full-time positions this facility will bring far-reaching benefits to our community."
  
  The McGuinty government, through the NOHFC, is investing $1 million toward the tourism and multi-use features of the new 140,000-square foot Steelback Centre. The multi-use features supported by this investment will include a sound system, a score board/clock, kitchen and concession equipment, as well as additional multi-use suites and washrooms. The new complex will attract events such as meetings, conventions, conferences, major concerts, theatre productions, equestrian competitions and other specialty shows.
  
  “We are on the side of northern prosperity by fostering economic growth and enhancing tourism opportunities throughout Northern Ontario,” said Bartolucci, who also chairs the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC). “We expect this new multi-use centre will become a major economic driver for the downtown core of Sault Ste. Marie and beyond.”
  
  Today’s investment is in addition to the $3.7 million already provided by the McGuinty government for the building’s capital costs under the Ministry of Tourism’s Sport, Culture and Tourism Partnership Secretariat (SCTP). Former federal Member of Parliament for Sault Ste. Marie, Carmen Provenzano, also secured $3.7 million for the Centre’s construction, with the Municipal government financing the remaining costs.
  
  “The City of Sault Ste. Marie has worked hard to get a multi-purpose events centre off the drawing board, and today’s additional funding from the provincial government will help deliver important enhancements to the new facility in the heart of our downtown core,” said James Caicco, Ward 1 City Councilor and Chair of the Steering Committee of the Sports and Entertainment Centre.
  
  The $25-million Steelback Centre will also be the new home of the Soo Greyhounds – Sault Ste. Marie’s Ontario Hockey League franchise – and will regularly host traditional major sporting events and competitions such as hockey, figure skating and curling. The new centre will have a seating capacity of 5,000 for spectator sports and 6,500 for concerts, conventions, meetings and other attractions. Construction of the new facility is expected to be completed this fall.