Sudbury downtown 'green stairs' project approved by council

Three years after it was drawn up, one of the first projects in the Downtown Sudbury Master Plan is moving ahead — and one city councillor is hoping to make more of the ambitious blueprint a reality.

The downtown Sudbury master plan was unveiled in 2012, with big ideas about new parks, office towers, art galleries and bike paths.

But city council at the time was more focused on the price tag and very few of the ideas were acted on.

Now, one of those ideas is officially moving ahead.

It's a $500,000 park called the Durham Green stairs, which connects Durham Street to Memorial Park and possibly provide a home for the new Stompin' Tom Connors statue.

The project was moved up because city crews need to do essential infrastructure work underneath the road and the Durham parkette that's been closed for two years. 

Ward 10 city councillor Fern Cormier said the closed park has become a "symbol" for problems in the downtown, much of which he represents.

He said he is determined to keep the downtown plan from gathering dust.

"There's a lot of discussion, there's a lot of reports, there's a lot of vision, without a lot of rubber hitting the road," he said.

"I think this council is determined to change that."

Other downtown dreams on the horizon include a revamping of the Tom Davies Square courtyard and the new Elgin Street Greenway — each coming with a bill in the $4 million range.

The courtyard is similar to the green stairs, as the area has to be ripped up for repairs to the roof of the underground parking garage at city hall.

The Greenway, a linear park running from the architecture school to Bell Park, has been actively worked on by staff for the past three years, with a design expected to come to council shortly for a vote. An estimated cost has never been released.

But even the $500,000 green stairs had councillor Joscelyne Landry-Altmann wondering about spending that much while they are still faced with the task of cutting $6 million from city spending.

"In this year, in the same breath ... I was a little surprised to see that," she said.

But Cormier said he believes the city needs to invest in the downtown before private companies will.

"The private sector is watching the public sector," he said. "To show faith in our own downtown and in our own community, it's incumbent on the city to put our money where our mouth is."