Hotel proposal dead in the water.

• Author: Cowan, Liz
• Position: NEWS

The proposed conference centre for North Bay's waterfront has been scrapped. A revised proposal was submitted earlier this spring from the Vrancor Group of Companies, but city council recently decided to terminate the agreement

The original proposal accepted in 2008 was for a 135-room hotel and a 1,100-seat conference centre to be built this year at the former Kenroc site on Memorial Drive.

City CAO Dave Linkie said the project was delayed and its scope had changed.

"What was of particular interest to us was a significant conference centre, much more than the hotel component, was starting to become modified," he said.

The revised proposal also called for a restaurant to be built on part of the property that was slated for parking - both for the convention centre and for the public.

"The proposal came out and put the restaurant there so that would have created a problem," Linkie said. "The scope had changed significantly enough and the timing issue was such that council felt it appropriate to terminate the agreement."

A new Request for Proposals will be issued and Linkie said the city will, look at anything "that makes sense." However, there is a need for a large conference centre since no other Northern Ontar - io city has a facility that can accommodate fairly large gatherings.

"We are not looking for one that was going to be in competition with our local providers, so what was originally contemplated was something in the range of 1,000 seats," Linkie said. "That would allow us to attract much larger conferences and be a boon to the local economy"

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"So if someone came in to do that - and we understand they don't usually survive as a stand-alone facility - it would have to be in concert with a hotel or motel: But if the proposal is just for another smaller...