Multiplex at Cambridge Centre scrapped

City council is now looking at other options for sports complex, including city-owned land located in southeast Galt

CAMBRIDGE — Council has pulled the plug on negotiations with the owners of the Cambridge Centre mall as the new location for the city’s multiplex sports facility.

Following over three hours of discussion behind closed doors Tuesday, Cambridge council in open session passed a motion cancelling the request for expressions of interest posted in fall 2017 on possible alternate locations for the multiplex.

That motion reads: “Council wishes to thank Morguard Real Estate Investment Trust for discussions with the city about a potential multiplex facility at the Cambridge Centre and that council directs staff to prepare and present alternative options, including the concept plan to build a recreation complex on city-owned southeast Galt lands and continue investments to existing recreation facilities for the city to deliver the desired recreational programming at affordable cost.”

City staff have also been directed to provide council with an information re-

port and presentation at the March 5 general committee meeting.

“Unfortunately, Morguard didn’t work out, but we do have other options,” Coun. Nicholas Ermeta said as the motion was passed. “We have the public meeting coming up March 5 and there would potentially be some open houses before a decision is made by council.”

In September 2017, council shelved five potential locations identified by a task force, in order to pursue discussions to put the $80-million multiplex at the Cambridge Centre on Hespeler Road. Talks between mall officials, former mayor Doug Craig and city staff had been going on behind the scenes for almost a year prior to that.

“The mall is a really interesting option because it already has a rink, the Hall of Fame is already there. It has restaurants. Transit is already there and it is in a central location,” Craig said at the time.

Prior to the start of talks with Morguard a citizen-based multiplex site assessment task force spent almost a year exploring three dozen potential sites for the multiplex before submitting its final report in the spring of 2017 with a shortlist of five candidate sites for council’s consideration. They included: The Grand River Flea Market at 261 Hespeler Rd.; a vacant 24-acre site at 220 Pinebush Rd.; 112 Pinebush Rd.; the vacant lot at the corner of Savage Drive and Franklin Boulevard; and the Cambridge campus of Conestoga College.

Since that list was drawn up, the 24-acre site on Pinebush Road has been sold, but the other locations are still on the table. The city is also looking at 32 acres of unserviced, city-owned land in southeast Galt, which has been earmarked for a major recreational facility for almost two decades. That property is part of a series of yet-to-be-developed subdivisions off Dundas Street South, which would be home to a recreational campus featuring a community centre, water feature, playing fields, library and public and Catholic elementary schools.

Coun. Frank Monteiro was head of the site selection task force.

“Right now, we are starting from scratch, but there are other options we have to explore. Staff will be presenting them to us March 5 and then it will be put out to the public for input,” he said.

Mayor Kathryn McGarry said that while the city appreciates Morguard’s interest, “the reality is construction costs have gone way up since this was originally done with concrete and steel.”

As part of the report being put together for the March meeting, city staff will review information already collected over the past four years.

“We’ve asked staff to go back to make sure our numbers are still good with the number of hours for ice pads and that sort of thing,” McGarry said.

Monteiro said costs on the project have increased by about 3.5 to four per cent per year since the project was first proposed.

Asked how much it might now cost to see the project completed, which includes at least two ice pads, three gymnasiums, two pools, one of which would be 25 metres in length, Monteiro said: “We are not allowed to say.”

“The bottom line will be affordability,” he said. “The cost of everything has gone up and now we have to reshuffle the numbers as to what we can afford. March 5 we’ll know more.”