Cambridge council votes unanimously to pursue split multiplex
Posted Oct 3, 2017 04:26:39 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
When it was first proposed, Cambridge council was considering having the controversial multiplex built in one location.
After a special meeting on Monday night, that won’t happen.
Council members voted unanimously on a motion that moving forward, the city would only pursue a split facility. Specifically, ice rinks and gyms at one location and an aquatics centre at another.
The locations are still being determined, but after the meeting, there’s two clear front runners; the Cambridge Centre Mall and Conestoga College.
The Cambridge Centre mall location is a new site that surfaced less than two weeks ago as a possible answer to the long-lived debate. Cambridge Mayor Doug Craig tells 570 NEWS where he sees the two sites being placed. “Right now, the five proposed sites from the beginning are still being considered but my best location if it was up to me, would be the ice rinks and gyms at the Cambridge Centre Mall and the aquatics centre at Conestoga College.” During the meeting, a number of councillors also reiterated their intrigued interest like Mayor Craig.
City staff have been instructed to draft up a report that will look at the feasibilty of the Cambridge Centre mall and Conestoga College site and potential partnerships that could come out of it. One of the delegations to speak on the issue was John Cook who is the Vice President of Buckingham Sports. Buckingham Sports is the company behind the Cambridge Ice Park on Franklin Boulevard. Cook told council he wants to team up and help build two more ice rinks at his private facility, but is opposed to the Cambridge Centre mall location because under that plan, all four rinks would be under one roof.
Another special multiplex meeting will be held in early December to present staff’s findings. Mayor Craig wants a final decision on the split facility’s locations before Christmas.
The project is still slated to cost $78 million.
