Sports Hall of Fame in Sudbury to be located at Kingsway Entertainment District site

A new location has been chosen for Sudbury's Sports Hall of Fame but it won't be ready for a few years.

The sports exhibit plans to relocate to the Kingsway Entertainment District once it's built. The project is currently delayed as it makes its way through the provincial Local Planning Appeal Tribunal.

Dave Petryna with the group says initially, the attraction was supposed to be a part of the Countryside Arena in the south end. But he says they had to rethink the location after not being able to secure government funding.

"We always ran into some problems because those funding agencies didn't feel that the location was ideal for the Sports Hall of Fame," he said.

"[They also felt] the Sports Hall of Fame was just a local attraction and they were hoping that we could be more of a northern Ontario attraction."

He says the city suggested the group look to set up in the Kingsway Entertainment District.

"We drew up some plans and thought it was a really, really great plan for us," he said. "That's why we decided to take the city's advice and move over there."

Even though the project is delayed, Petryna says they don't mind waiting.

"The type of attraction that we're building really does take a lot of time as well, so their timeframe lines up actually very well with our timeframe," he explained.

"It's a two to three year process to build and finance and facilitate this sports hall of fame."

Petryna says it's also appealing to be located on a site which will be home to an arena, hotel, casino and conference centre.

"To be a part of that is good for the sports hall of fame because it's a more northern Ontario target market," he said.

"There are a lot of attractions and facilities that would complement with what we're doing. To be part of a larger tourist attraction is really the draw for us."

Petryna says the future sports hall of fame would have more of a regional focus and would likely be renamed the Northern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame.