Public gets a glimpse of the schematic plans, artist renderings of Sudbury’s Cultural Hub

Public gets a peek Sudbury's cultural hub Members of the public had a chance Tuesday to see how Sudbury plans to turn Tom Davies Square into a new cultural hub.

On Tuesday, the public got a chance to see what Greater Sudbury’s proposed cultural hub could look like.

The city held an open house showing architectural blueprints and artist renderings for the project, which will be retrofitted into spaces at Tom Davies Square.

"Projects are more successful when you engage in the community and you get people’s thoughts,” said Tony Cecutti, the city's manager of infrastructure services.

"What’s their intent on how they want to use the services offered, what’s important to them."

Cecutti said the $65 million project will see sections of city hall and the adjacent provincial building retrofitted to take in the Greater Sudbury Public Library, the Art Gallery of Sudbury and the Sudbury Multicultural and Folk Arts Association.

The city has already announced that $25 million of the cost will come from the federal government and a combined $3.1 million will come from the library and the art gallery. The Multicultural Association will also contribute.

A spokesperson for the gallery said they’ve long needed a new space, and they’re making big plans for the future, including a new name: the Franklin Carmichael Art Gallery of Sudbury.

"We can expand our art education programming. I think that is the big one," said fundraising and fund development officer, Susan Levesque.

"We’ll have many more spaces to provide art education and we’ll be able to have several ongoing exhibitions in the five galleries. So, I’m really looking forward to that. And lots of events, too, I’m sure. We’ll be hosting many events in the common areas."

Levesque said the new space will have five different galleries: Indigenous, Francophone, permanent, temporary and the Franklin Carmichael gallery.

Levesque said she is attempting to raise $2 million by the end of 2026, with $1.5 million dedicated to building costs.

"We are also adding $200,000 in artwork commissions and $300,000 in specialized equipment,” she said.

John Lindsay, chair of the Sudbury chapter of the Canadian Association of Retired Persons (CARP), said he came to the open house as a critic. He’s concerned the new cultural hub won’t be as accessible as the current main branch of the library.

"The accessibility at Tom Davies Square is really the big question mark," Lindsay said.

"If you have difficulty getting to it, that’s going to be a challenge (and) that’s something that really should be looked at -- and possibly should have been looked at before consideration was given to this culture hub."

Because the detailed designs still need to be finished, the timeline for the project is not yet complete.

However, Cecutti said the city hopes to begin work next year and estimates about 12 to 16 months for construction.