Sawchuk Peach Associates
198 Oak Street P3C 1M7 Greater Sudbury, ON, Canada

TO OUR FRIENDS, CLIENTS, COLLEAGUES It is with great sadness and regret that I have to inform you that my Friend and Professional Partner for over 69 years, Oryst Sawchuk has died. Oryst succumbed to complications from a recent heart valve procedure which had been expected to allow him to return back to his professional work in full operation of his considerable intellectual talents.... In view of the passing of Oryst, the Professional Practice of Sawchuk Peach Associates - Architects also passes into history in accordance with the statutory regulations of the Ontario Professional Association. For now, I will be keeping the office open under the name Arthur Peach, essentially to enable completion of projects in progress and to consult with you on questions for which I am professionally qualified. I am prepared to consult with clients of SPA-A to make appropriate arrangements for carrying on and completing your particular job or assisting in transferring responsibilities to other professionals. Pursuant to this the main telephone 705-674-9633 will be available to take messages, and will be monitored daily . For more direct contact call 705-522-5832 or email to Sincerely, Arthur Peach

Sawchuk, Oryst Passed on: Thursday, May 2, 2019 Oryst Sawchuk died May 2, 2019 at Health Sciences North, following complications from a successful heart procedure at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto. Sawchuk was an architect, artist and community leader. He was born in Winnipeg but lived in Sudbury most of his life. As senior partner of Sawchuk Peach Associates Architects Planners, his architectural contributions to the city include the Sudbury Transit Centre, the main fire ...hall in downtown Sudbury, Lo-Ellen Park Secondary School, and the N’Swakamok Native Friendship Centre. He was most proud of his work as the designer of the original Grace Hartman Amphitheatre when Bell Park was extended in the mid-1960s. In 2001, he was chosen to design the national memorial to Canadians who fought for the republic in the Spanish Civil War. The monument is located on Green Island opposite Rideau Falls on the Rideau River in Ottawa. Oryst was an active member of the Sudbury Chamber of Commerce in the 1980s, and served as its president in the late 1980s. In 2010 he was awarded a Community Builders Award for his contribution to the arts. In 2018, Thorneloe University also honoured him for his community contributions. The family is making plans for a celebration of his life. Details will be made available later. He is survived by his loving partner of 25 years, Vicki Gilhula, his son Sergei and his wife, Julie, this son’s mother, Natasha, and grandchildren Ivan and Viktor. He is remembered by his nephews James, Justin and Alexander. His is missed by his business partner of 60 years, Arthur Peach and his wife, Louise. See more

2018 Sudbury Star. All rights reserved. A member of Sun Media Community Newspapers part of Postmedia Network. Gordon Petch’s appeal record has been made publi...c. In it, the lawyer for several of those appealing the Kingsway Entertainment District indicates he plans to argue that rezoning applications are null and void, in large part because the city did not do its due diligence in determining whether Sudbury would become a willing host to a casino. Petch’s appeal record indicates that his argument hinges on the fact the OLG required the city of London to prove it was a willing host for a casino. No such due diligence occurred in Sudbury, he argues. OLG’s stated position in the city of London as to how a municipality is required to comply required that the city must obtain the views of the public as to whether or not they wish their municipality to be a willing host and that such process must be widespread and must precede and not be connected to any consideration of a specific location for the casino, he wrote. Only after that process has been completed can the city then proceed to consider land-use approvals for any individual site and pass the resolution required. Petch says the city was bound by law to hold a referendum asking citizens if they wanted a casino in the municipality. If a majority of the electorate respond in the negative, the municipality has no jurisdiction to proceed to consider the casino further, Petch wrote. The city did not hold such a referendum and cannot rely on the resolution of May 15, 2012, to obtain its jurisdiction to proceed to consider the casino and grant Planning Act approvals for the subject applications and this tribunal, therefore, has no jurisdiction to approve same. A bylaw must be adopted no later than March 31 in the year of a municipal election and the question posed must be ‘clear, concise and neutral’ and capable of being answered yes or no. At no time has the city complied with the requirements of this act and regulation. He says the issue of becoming a willing host for a casino is actually a land-use matter. He also indicates cities can reject casinos if their citizens do not want to host gaming establishments. Whether or not a municipality wants to be a willing host is a legitimate land-use planning issue in the province of Ontario, he wrote. The city must obtain the views of the public on this sole issue before proceeding to either consider or, in the alternative, grant land-use approvals for any specific site. Because the city did not hold a referendum and did not determine the willingness of citizens to host a casino, Petch said OLG did not have the jurisdiction to approve a casino for the city, the city did not have the jurisdiction to approve the subject Planning Act applications and the bylaws adopted to approve the casino use are a nullity. According to the appeal record, city staff met with bidders in 2012 to determine a location for the casino. Four areas were identified: downtown, Sudbury Downs, the Four Corners area of the South End, and the Kingsway at Barrydowne Road. City staff held an open house in October 2012 and the responses were provided to council at it Feb. 26, 2013, meeting indicating a majority of the respondents indicated a preference for the existing Sudbury Downs location, for a number of reasons, one of which was it was remote enough to discourage problem gambling. At that meeting, council said it would support expanded gaming if the city received a hotel, a multi-use centre, a performing arts centre or an OHL-ready arena, at no cost to the city. Petch questions why this current council did not consider Sudbury Downs for the casino, considering that citizens apparently wanted it to remain in Chelmsford. He is also concerned that staff reports dated March 2018 did not take into account the socio-economic factors related to gambling. None of the staff reports consider the issue of having a casino directly beside and connected to a municipal arena/event centre, nor having the casino located close to a vulnerable residential area on the Kingsway, as the appellant Dr. (Christopher Duncanson) Hales had criticized in his submission to the committee, Petch wrote. Essentially, Petch says Zulich convinced city council to relocate planned projects including the events centre and a large hotel to his land on the Kingsway. Zulich proposed that his industrial lands, located on the Kingsway, well outside the downtown and beside an operating landfill site, be used for the new arena/event centre, hotel and other related commercial uses in a development he named as a new entertainment district for the city, Petch wrote. Essentially what he was proposing was that these important capital investment projects targeted for the downtown be developed on his lands. Petch also infers the city did not do its due diligence with respect to staff reports that were prepared in January and March. The staff reports for both the Jan. 22 and March 26, 2018 statutory meetings were silent on the obvious serious economic impacts staff should reasonably have had concern for with these approvals on the downtown and the city’s aforesaid initiated large projects, Petch wrote. The said staff reports also made no reference to the appellant’s economic consultant Rowan Faludi’s (urbanMetrics) report dated March 12, 2018, provided to them prior to the completion of their March 26, 2018 staff report advising of long-term negative economic impacts on the downtown and asking them to undertake their own independent studies before proceeding further. Petch also accuses the city of acting in a climate of secrecy. There are no public documents informing the public as to why Zulich or Gateway are not front-ending their share of these costs (related to site preparation and grading); and whether or not the city has exercised its option to acquire title to the arena/event component of the Zulich lands and if so on what terms; and what if any financial arrangements the city has with Zulich or Gateway for reimbursement, especially if the casino does not proceed, all of which the appellants ask to be produced, he indicated. He also accuses council and staff of acting with bias from the beginning of the process to the recent decision to move forward with the $8.5 million contract for site preparation and grading. At the first public meeting, staff misled the public by advising that their social and economic concerns had already been discussed at a previous public meeting, Petch wrote. Staff and council refused to give consideration to these issues despite the obvious problems of locating a municipal arena beside and connected to a casino. At the second public meeting staff and council took the highly irregular position that the long-term planning initiatives in the downtown master plan and economic development strategy could not be given any weight in the analysis of the planning applications because they had not been inserted into the city’s official plan, but then chose to amend the official plan to include the fundamental components of the downtown master plan within 90 days of council’s adoption of all the entertainment district applications, but with the arena removed as a significant development for the downtown. Petch suggests the city only really considered the Kingsway location after the idea of an entertainment district incorporating but bigger than the events centre began to circulate. The only possible reasonable explanation from the record for the city suddenly changing course and deciding to locate the downtown arena/event centre on the Zulich lands in conjunction with a casino and hotel complex and other commercial uses was the attraction of a new entertainment district, allegedly with a substantial regional draw and economic benefit to the city, he indicated. The record also suggests council believed they could leverage their support for the casino to get a new arena/event centre without cost to the city, which never occurred. The record also reasonably demonstrates that the city would have approved the new arena/event centre in the downtown if the concept of a new entertainment district had not arisen. The Local Planning Appeal Tribunal meets in Sudbury on Nov. 6 for a case management conference, during which the parties will meet to discuss moving forward. [email protected]

Every building tells a story-- it takes on meaning and reflects the activities that occur within its walls throughout the years. People shape its ‘story’, leaving their mark, giving a building its unique character and beginning to create the building’s personality. Physically, it evolves to meet needs and functions that change over time; repairs, upgrades and renovations shape and shift the original concept. The history of a building is not only the physical, but it is entwin...ed with the intention, energy and purpose of those who occupy and use the space over its lifetime. Buildings are more than glass and steel, they are living history. They become more interesting as time passes, the structure wears and often morphs while it simultaneously becomes a receptacle of memories and moments. People shape the history of a building through their experience and recollections. The OAA Headquarters building is no exception. This is an excerpt from our OAA newsletter and certainly applys to our "civic centre" proposal

CIVIC CENTRE DOWNTOWN SUDBURY CIVIC CENTRE INCLUDING: TOM DAVIS SQUARE (GOVERNMENT), MEMORIAL PARK OPEN SPACE/RECREATION), AND THE JUNCTION ON HERITAGE SQUARE/PLACE DU PARTRIMOINE ( ARTS AND CULTURE) The original concept for amalgamation as a new city of Greater Sudbury was to recognize Sudbury Basin’s Sudbury’s historical settlements as a constellation of units, a community of communities. Revisiting this notion of a constellation may be an opportunity to redefine the w...Continue reading