Sunderland Arena Project

• Provision for a range of four (4) to six (6) dressing rooms, with a minimum of two being fully accessible;
• Inclusion of a community use room and an ice surfacer room;
• Expand the building to include a storage room, if it can be achieved within budget;
• Expand the ice surface of the arena to a minimum of 75 x 175 feet and maximum of 80 x 200 feet;
• Replace the concrete pad in the arena;
• Update the refrigeration system;
• Reconfigure seating around the rink;
• Renovate the existing lobby, dressing rooms and second floor auditorium.

These are the minimum requirements of the project in order to receive the $5.5 million ICIP grant.

2021 Approved Project Scope ICIP Grant

• 6 new dressing rooms (requested scope change/flexibility- range of 4-6 and keeping 2 as fully accessible)
• Community use room (required- size not determined and dependant on budget)
• Storage (required- size not determined and dependant on budget)
• Ice resurfacer room (required as part of the grant)
• Replacement of concrete pad (required as part of the grant)
• Expansion of ice surface to regulation size (requested scope change/flexibility- increase but size to be determined)
• Updated refrigeration system (required as part of the grant)
• Reconfigured seating around the ice surface (will be determined by changes to the ice surface size)
• Renovation of the lobby and current dressing rooms to create a larger lobby (required)
• New food booth (required as part of grant)
• Second floor viewing (required)
• Accessibility (required)

• The Sunderland Lions Club has indicated that they would be interested in contributing to this project, based upon a number of expectations for the project.

• Development Charges (DCs) are one time fees collected from developers at the time a building permit is issued. These fees help pay for infrastructure required to provide municipal services to a new development. The use of DCs is to ensure pressures of increased development doesn’t fall completely on the existing tax base and ensures services keep up with where growth is occurring.  The funds are contributed, however, become Township revenue to be used to support development.  The Township, in accordance with the Development Charges Background Study, determines how the Development Charge contributions will be allocated.

• The Sunderland project was placed into the 2019 DC study in the event that the grant was not successful.  

• Even though the grant was approved the Township will be able to use a portion of DCs to assist with this project. Significant time was spent to determine how much of this project was DC eligible. The DC portion is 65% of the net cost after the grant is deducted from the total cost. The amount that can be used must be substantiated by growth. The Township has a long list of underfunded projects and Development Charges are one source of revenue that helps support growth related projects. By using development charges where possible it lessons the tax burden that would result from acquiring new debt for the project. Borrowing costs escalate with inflation. Borrowing from committed reserves results in debt payments even when we borrow from our own reserves. We are working to ensure that we keep borrowing to a minimum on this project.

• Development Charges are received with each new development (residential, non-residential, etc.) within the Township.  If the Township has low development, the prospects for future Development Charge collections to support growth will be limited.  The Township needs to ensure a balance in their DC projects and focus on projects driven by growth.  

• In 2024, the Township updated its Development Charge By-Law and the budget for the Sunderland Arena Renovation and Expansion Project was increased.
• The Lions Club has indicated that they will contribute between $500,000 to $800,000 for this project, however, the confirmed funding level is dependent upon final approved project scope. The Township is aware that there may be funding of approximately $576,000 owed, as a result of a recent Ontario Land Tribunal Decision with Kaitlin Corporation, however, the funding, if received, would flow between the Kaitlin Corporation and the Sunderland Lions Club.  There is uncertainty over the timing of this agreement as any potential payments are tied to the issuance of building permits.  There is a delay in the issuance of building permits as there are issues which must be first resolved regarding water and sanitary servicing. As a result of these timing issues, the Township does not believe that the potential funding from Kaitlin can be counted on as a funding source currently for the Sunderland Arena and Expansion Project.

Project Next steps:

1. Week of February 26, 2024 Staff will meet with facility user group appointed member(s) to outline the components of the project and what is required and what can be changed to meet the project budget.
2. User groups to meet with their internal team to identify their priorities from the descope list of option. Selecting from most important to least important.
3. Hire the Construction Management Firm
4. Final architectural designs to be issued for requests for pre-qualification construction companies 
5. Estimated timeline:  18 months from start of construction.