Good morning, Greater Sudbury! Here are a few stories to start your day on this Wednesday morning.
Coniston tenants meet with MPP, say they’re ready to fight
The tenants of 21 Balsam Coniston apartment complex, those who fear they are about to face eviction over the building owner’s move to conduct “extensive renovations”, came together April 29 in the games room of their building to meet with their Nickel Belt MPP France Gélinas to figure out what to do next. Sipping coffee, the residents laughed about how the letters from the building owner telling them they needed to leave their homes for an unknown period of time have brought them closer together. Then, they got down to business. After they shared their fears with Gélinas, concerns about where they would live and how they would afford current market rental amounts, they told her the new owners of their building were from Richmond Hill and couldn’t possibly care about the lives of Northerners. Gélinas told them, “They don’t know Sudbury … yet.”
Then & Now: That time they executed an elephant at the city dump
“The Greatest Show on Earth” and “The World’s Biggest Menagerie” were two of the slogans that the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus hung their hat on for generations. And, every other circus across North America did their best to try to match this heavyweight of the business with their own thrills, chills and animal skills. When you say the word “circus” to most people, the mind always flashes to those three-ring, big-top spectacles of yesteryear as featured in Cecil B. DeMille’s 1952 extravaganza “The Greatest Show on Earth” or more benignly, in Disney’s 1940 classic, “Dumbo”. But, unlike the latter story, which ended in typical Uncle Walt fashion with everyone receiving a happy ending, the story I will be presenting to you today offers us a glimpse at the flip side of the use of animals for entertainment purposes in circuses. It was an unseasonably cold six degrees on the morning of Aug. 4 1972, as a caravan of vehicles reached downtown, marking the arrival of the Canadian International Circus to Sudbury Arena. The circus, which was sponsored by the New Sudbury Lions Club, had been hired to put on performances at the arena on Friday (the same day as their arrival) and again on Saturday, after having performed in Brantford the evening before.
Old hospital-site project to break ground ‘within five years’
The long-vacant Paris Street hospital moved one step closer toward a 530-unit residential development, with its first of two public hearings held at Tom Davies Square on Monday. “Hallelujah,” Ward 12 Coun. Joscelyne Landry-Altmann said during the afternoon planning committee meeting of city council. “We’ve been waiting for this for a very long time.” Repeatedly pressed by city council members to share a projected timeline, Tulloch Engineering planning manager Kevin Jarus cited it as a priority for its developer, Panoramic Properties. “It will certainly not be 10 years, and the hope, given the process that has to be followed ... that this would certainly be under construction within five years or less,” he said, later clarifying that the construction process would be “at least 18 months, likely longer, around the two-year mark.” Asked for a timeline for when Panoramic Properties will tear down the old hospital structure, Jarus said he wasn’t abreast of demolition plans.
Sudbury’s Joey Niceforo makes a musical return to the Nickel City
The COVID-19 pandemic was hard on so many performers, as venues were shut down for months on end, and Sudbury native Joey Niceforo was left wondering what was next. In his earlier career, the now 44-year-old trained opera singer had been a member of the Canadian Tenors and formed his own classical crossover, Destino, before launching a solo career and releasing his debut album, Priceless, in 2018. “After COVID, to start over again, in terms of this singing career, I thought it would be really difficult,” said Niceforo, a graduate of Sudbury’s Collège Notre-Dame who now lives in Toronto. “And then I ended up getting a residency at Casa Loma with the Casa Loma Symphony Orchestra.” The Casa Loma gig has turned out to be a blessing for Niceforo, and he’s expanded his repertoire to everything from Broadway to Edith Piaf. “I don't really pick the songs,” Niceforo said. “It’s the music director who picks it, and it’s kind of fun, because I'm game to learn anything. Some of the music they pick is absolutely beautiful.”
Forty-unit row house development OK’d for Minnow Lake
A 40-unit row-house development in the Minnow Lake neighbourhood was greenlit on Monday by the planning committee of city council’s unanimous support. Owner Barry Kindrat told Sudbury.com he’d get rolling on the development as quickly as possible, estimating it will take about a year to service the property and two years to build. “It’s really designed for active seniors,” he said, describing target residents as having “a nice pension,” who have sold their house and like to travel and “have a really nice place to live.” Kindrat said a similar eight-unit development in Chelmsford was rented out quickly, and expects a similar response to the Minnow Lake project. The units will be made of brick, have two bathrooms per unit, a garage for each unit and be “designed for seniors.” At current market rates, he estimates the units will be rented for $2,500 apiece, but the final going rate would depend on where the market ends up when the units open in three years.
Be a donor: Irish Heritage Club makes its annual organ donation appeal
The importance of organ donations was showcased Tuesday at a flag-raising event at Tom Davies Square, hosted by the Irish Heritage Club of Sudbury, which has taken on the role of education and awareness for organ donations. The event, held in the city hall atrium, featured several organ transplant recipients along with organ donors, who have had life-changing experiences. Laurie Lamour spoke of the importance of people officially registering their wishes in order to be certain that their organs and tissues can be donated at the time of their death. Lamour is a specialist with the Trillium Gift Of Life Network (TGLN) and a donor co-ordinator at Health Sciences North. She said her job is to work with donor families and determine whether a suitable organ or tissue donation can be made and to work closely with the Trillium Gift of Life Network to ensure testing is done for suitability and that all the correct registration information is in place.
