Greater Sudbury's Tom Davies Square could become a cultural hub in 2026

The City of Greater Sudbury has been talking about creating a cultural hub for years and after this week's council meeting, it might finally become reality.

By 2026, the city hopes to bring the library, art gallery, and multicultural association together under one roof. City staff want to bring it to Tom Davies Square. 

"The idea is for them to create a welcoming space for arts and certainly leisure in our community," said Mayor Paul Lefebvre.

Lefebvre said council members originally approved a new build across the street from Tom Davies Square that would cost around $98.5 million. 

By January, council members paused their approval to see if they could find a space that was not only less expensive, but would also answer all the needs for the new space. 

A space like the provincial tower located within Tom Davies Square. Lefebvre said half the space is currently not being used and is owned by the municipality. 

"To better maximize the assets that we have, we gave direction to staff to come up with a plan on how we could utilize the space with a budget of approximately $65 million," Lefebvre said.

Representatives with the Art Gallery of Sudbury said at the council meeting Tuesday night that, because of the lack of space at its current location, it has to store important parts of its collection elsewhere.

The chair of the Sudbury Multicultural and Folk Arts Association said the move could help solve a lot of the problems the organization is facing in its current building.

"Being part of a cultural hub would be amazing," said Bela Ravi.

"We have been struggling with the safety of our employees, board members, and clients due to break ins and theft." 

Almost all of the city council members were in favour of creating the hub at Tom Davies Square during the meeting, but some raised concerns about funding. 

The approved timeline would have construction begin in 2025 with the Cultural Hub expected to open by the end of 2026.