Councillors seek public's input for 2008 budget

[Max]

Abstract

City council always has a lengthy "To Do List" but fails to employ a "Stop Doing List," i.e., stop wasting our money, which is equally if not much more important. Government waste is embedded in our consciousness and experience without being called into question. It's time for ratepayers to wake up and demand city council be more results oriented and guided by performance not process; for passion without performance is pointless.

The courage to grow demands the courage to let go, and great leaders challenge the process and search for opportunities to change the status quo. They look for innovative ways to improve the organization in every way possible. But what we have here is a failure to... innovate. If council actually cared about Citizens they would have innovation at the very top of their To Do List.

Innovation ensures that there is a solid foundation on which to build future successes. Competition provides the basis for comparison as it sets the standards, thus, the forces of competition must be brought to bear to overcome the monopoly mechanisms government has unwittingly introduced in public services.

This complete rethinking of process will achieve a design that produces dramatic enhanced results; therefore, we need our leaders to pledge an ironclad commitment to becoming efficiency addicts where the ratepayer will be the principle beneficiary.

The city has a 485 million $ budget in 2007. In 2008, it will be over 500 million $ - half a billion $. While council conducts business at the speed of molasses, these budgeteers are giving each person wishing to offer solutions to save or make our city money 5 minutes to make their case. Why?

One can see that this process is a complete charade. Each year we go through this and nearly every idea submitted is completely ignored and not implemented. Cutting jobs is hard work while creating jobs and virgin revenue is genius. However, it cannot be explained in 5 minutes.

Meeting the dual demands of smart growth and lower property taxes hinges on generating virgin revenue sources. Becoming future smart is business critical for our city. Thus our city can no longer sit back and just polish yesterday's economic apple, we must look beyond conventional recipes for business sustainability by planting new apple trees in order to grow a wisdom economy for the future. Our future doesn't start in 5 years; it starts tomorrow; and inventing tomorrow should start today.

Therefore, it's time for this city to think big, and the big time isn't for slackers. Leadership is not a group effort, if you're in charge Mr. Mayor, be in charge. In a more futuristic realm, we can no longer spend tax $ in unproductive ways and it's time to get into the leadership zone. There is a convey belt of ideas available to create jobs, lower property taxes and accomplish tangible results; if we really wanted, too. Ideas are the beginning points of all fortunes; and it's time to end the dumbsizing of our city's payroll.

Introduction

The following is a strategic, constructive and viable solution plan from my reinvention lab to end the quackonomics currently employed in this city. It describes in vivid terms how we can help solve our future by changing the entire DNA of our central operating nervous system to squeeze every possible ounce of public value out of every dollar spent. Nothing here is intellectually complex or hard to do; and none of these solutions are on the "Already Done List."

This menu of resource management and development options would grow our city revenues, employment and population while reducing property taxes, welfare rolls, crime rates, and most importantly, city operating costs. The following provides up to 20 million $ in savings annually in addition to generating over 1.9 billion $ in cash to solve many, if not all, of our city problems.

Furthermore, if the Waste to Wealth Hydrocity plan were implemented the city would take in an additional 1 billion+ $ in tipping fee revenue while earning up to another 1 billion $ in electricity sales every year. Selling recycled finished goods would net the city up to an additional 350 million $. This plan would also eliminate 8 million+ $ in fuel costs that the city currently pays; and all of which makes mathematical logic.

I wish you a good read.

Sudbury Arena

The concert set up at the Arena needs to be reversed in increase seating capacity. Currently the exit in the middle of the stands is eating up over 100 seats and upwards of 5,000 $ or more per concert. Thus, the city has needlessly lost millions of $ since 1951 and the stage should be located at the opposite side of the arena floor.

Naming Rights

Naming rights to the Sudbury arena should be sold for a 10-year term to the highest bidder. In 2006, council gave the Sudbury Wolves owner 10% of the profit of the naming rights. Why?

Sault Saint Marie sold its arena naming rights for 1.3 million $ for a 10 year term. They did not give the Greyhounds a cut of the naming rights. The Wolves are only a tenant in a city owned building and if our arena naming rights were sold for 1.3 million $ Mark Burgess makes 130,000 $ profit. Why?

Under the Municipal Act, this council is not obligated to honour the agreement made with any party by previous councils, thus the city needs to cancel this agreement which will save ratepayers 130,000 $ or more.

Arena seats nameplates should be sold to generate more revenue. There are 4650 seats in the arena. Seat nametags could be sold for 200 $ each for a two year term raising nearly 1.8 million $ of new revenue every two years.

To provide incentive for people to buy seat plate naming rights, those who buy would have first bid on their seats for all events. Tickets for all special events would go on sale to seat owners one day prior to going on sale to the general public. Four free draws to sit in press skybox could be drawn from seat owners for every event. One free event ticket per two-year term will be given to each seat owner.

Seat owners situated behind concert stage would be offered floor seats first. If concert is standing room only seat owners would be allowed front row standing at the beginning of the concert. Seat owners would enter the arena at a special door to ensure they get the front row before the general public doors open.

Naming rights to the Sudbury Theatre Centre, city owned buildings, the boardwalk on Ramsay, all bike paths, walking trails, playgrounds, parks, bridges, arenas, Sudbury arena broadcast booth, Bell Park stage, fire & police stations, and any new streets, buildings and subdivisions should be sold to the highest bidder.

Naming rights for the giant water tank on Falconbridge road needs to be offered to Pepsi, Coke or Campbell's soup. Painting the tank would create the largest pop or soup can in the world, create a landmark, and generate millions in virgin revenue.

The city should sell exclusive soft drink rights to Coke or Pepsi in all city owned buildings. Pouring Rights would include soft drinks and isotonic drinks. A five year term contract would raise hundreds of thousands of $.

The city should sell exclusive bottled water rights in all city owned buildings. A five year term contract could raise tens of thousands of $.

The city should sell exclusive beer sale pouring rights in all city owned buildings. A five year term contract would raise hundreds of thousands of $.

The city should paint manhole covers like a coffee cup and sell exclusive rights to Country Style Donuts, Tim Horton's or Starbucks. A five year term contract would raise hundreds of thousands of $.

This is all brand new own source revenue for the city and under section 187. (1) of the Municipal Act, we can even sell the naming rights to city of Sudbury. Inco Ontario?, Xstrada Ontario, Nickel City Ontario? Show us the money! Would they buy it? Who know unless we ask.

The most powerful thing any corporation can do for a society and location in which it operates is help that community create a prosperous economy. CVRD Inco is estimated to have 370 billion $ in historic and proven reserves while Xstrada have 100s of billions more. For exclusive 99 year naming rights, 1 billion $ for either company equates to a mere 9 to 11 months of rock production of the buried bounty beneath our boots.

Given the recent comments from our mayor that Inco has become our city's best friend thanks to Mark Cutifani laying the groundwork for the strong and positive relationship that now exists between the company and our city; it's time for Inco to prove this to be true. Home is not only where our heart is, it's also where our future is.

The province owns our city and would inherit all newly constructed tourism and leisure facilities arising from the naming rights sale, thus the winning bidder could help our city prosper even more by demanding the province match the bid or there is no deal; which would double our take to 2 billion $.

Add the possibility of a federal government matching contribution and our future only gets brighter. Would the province be willing to lose up to 1 billion $ in new free assets by refusing to match the winning bidder? I don't think so, because, after all, their matching contribution is being invested in a city they already own.

From Waste to Wealth

Investing 1 to 4 billion $ in Coniston's Twin Stacks recycled comeback would create a massive eco-industrial resource recovery science park consisting of 21st century state-of-the-art mega-wattage Waste to Energy (WtE) incinerators and Plasma Arc gasification power plants that would green up the province and turn down the earth's thermostat by eliminating landfills in several Ontario cities or all of Canada.

We might like to think the garbage disappears forever when the truck hauls it away from the curb, but this is, after all, a small planet, and materials don't leave it. They just cycle around, and sometimes they come back to haunt you.

There is no monitoring or prevention method occurring to stop the seepage of the nasty co<ktail of chemical liquids and heavy metals, like mercury, that are right now leaking and contaminating the surrounding environment, such as our ground water system. This is called a non-point source pollutant.

How much prime land has been possibly--and permanently--poisoned is unknown. Worse may be where the seepage runoff is ending up. That we do know. Virtually all of it eventually flows into the lakes from which we draw our drinking water.

Landfill seepage can pollute ground water for up to 100 years and this chemical co<ktail soup is seeping swiftly south, i.e., underground; sight unseen. The atmosphere can absorb and cleanse itself of Greenhouse Gases (GHG), as history has proven, but our watersheds are not self-cleansing, thus we will save our world by saving our watersheds.

After C02, methane gas is the next most important greenhouse gas and will cause 15 percent of all global warming experienced this century, and methane gas contributes 3 percent of Canada's greenhouse gas.

Landfill emissions are not being monitored and by eliminating materials from going into landfills we would eliminate future landfill methane gas emissions. Eliminating landfills would also reduce smell, flies, seagulls, rats, bears and disease. Land filling should be limited only to non-recyclable and non-combustible materials, as it does not make any sense to destroy sacred lands with garbage, therefore; it's time to clean up our logic.

Those who stir up people and create all this fear of incinerators just don't understand the technology. Objections to it are based on information that's 30 years out of date. Incinerators have been "laboratory pilot tested," "internationally patented," "scientifically baptized," and safely used throughout the world for 35+ years; so the force of logic prevails.

Incinerator inefficiencies are simply rich in myth and its slippery Canadian ally, tradition. Some people say incinerators are a "cash-burning plant," or a "waste-of-energy" facility not a "waste-to-energy" facility; however, many cities and countries have been busy proving the skeptical hardcore eco-groupies wrong.

One of the most abused aspects of incinerator use by skeptics is that the air will become a cesspit like atmosphere, however, myths are not basis for policy and a good dose of reality might be better.

The air shed does not have a border and incinerators within our air zone are used in Montreal, Brampton, Kirkland Lake, Michigan, New York State, Maine, Connecticut, Virginia, West Virginia, Massachusetts, Illinois, Indiana, Pennsylvania, New Jersey Wisconsin, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maryland, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Rhode Island, Delaware and Minnesota.

The "inconvenient truth" for anti's is that incinerator emissions do not require a passport to enter our airspace and emissions are already in the "great aerial ocean" that surrounds us all.

Minneapolis St. Paul Minnesota has 1000 lakes and no side effects from their incinerators. Importantly, every city in Ontario and elsewhere already cremates humans and pets and no one is calling for a ban.

Energy recovery from "landfill to energy" schemes produce only one fifth of the energy per tonne of waste than incineration with energy recovery. Energy from Landfills schemes does not achieve volume reduction of waste; incineration does. It also takes 25 years or more to recover "only some" of the methane from a landfill site, whereas the energy from incineration is recovered immediately.

Moreover, the mercury and dioxin standards for WtE plants are far more stringent than those for coal-fired or high-sulfur-content oil-fired power plants. Both coal and oil-fired plants are everywhere in the U.S. and their emissions are also already in our air shed, and no one is calling for a ban.

Waste to energy incinerators produce clean, reliable "renewable" power with less environmental impact than almost any other source of electricity! In Europe, 400+ Waste to Energy plants exist, as it's illegal to landfill anything combustible. There are over 900 plants worldwide as waste is not garbage, but a commercially valuable, renewable resource. The incineration and vaporware science is sound and we're not going to become anyone's guinea pig.

We need to copycat this trend-true low carbon economy direction as incinerating garbage is a smart form of recycling, and in ecological terms, our sacred lands just can't afford another century like the past one.

What is needed to pass the Sudbury Star and Northern Life front page test is greater understanding about recycling and incinerators. Nothing speaks as eloquently as an example, and these 900 WtE plants are proof that such plants do work well.

Cars are doing more damage to our environment and no one is calling for a ban on cars. Moreover, the greens have failed to reduce the consumption and production of garbage and no one anywhere has a rubbish free day, and no one is calling for one. Thus, based on current trends, our throwaway society would continue to supply a lifetime of incinerator feedstock.

Since we need to come to grips with our carbon footprint, by becoming the provinces or country's kidney, this renewable energy field would import up to 1 billion carbon currency $ in tipping fees and net up to another billion $ in electricity sales.

Therefore, it's time to wake up and smell the garbage. There is 8 million tonnes a year of garbage gold within a 4 hours radius of Sudbury that no one wants. A modern day gold rush in Sudbury would occur and no one but me smells it.

A trash incinerator or plasma arc gasification plant is the only kind of power station which gets paid to accept the fuel it burns! And with local construction and demolition materials becoming part of the incoming material stream, we get more infeed fuel for free!

These plants also produce biodiesel. We would produce enough diesel to run all of our city vehicles, city buses, snowplows, fire trucks etc, and eliminate the 8 million $ in fuel expenditures we're currently paying.

It takes 1 tonne of garbage compared to 1/4 tonne of coal to produce the same amount of energy. However one tonne of garbage burns much cleaner than one tonne of coal, thus garbage is a cleaner stream of fuel. A barrel of oil costs as much as 80 $. A tonne of garbage generates as much electricity as a barrel of oil; and Ontario is a veritable Middle East of garbage, pumping out 13 million tonnes a year while all of Canada produces 31 million tonnes per year. There are some 10,000 landfills in Canada that can also be mined for fuel feedstock.

Therefore, you can think of garbage as a mixture of energy-rich fuel. Burning one tonne of trash thus avoids mining a quarter tonne of coal or importing or producing one barrel of oil. Taking into account both of these factors means that WtE plants reduces GHG emissions by an estimated 2.8 tonnes of carbon dioxide per tonne of trash burned.

Sudbury would become the Saudi Arabia of recycling and this project would create 2000+ cleaner economy jobs for our citizens. Two thousand 45,000 $ a year jobs would have a 90 million $ annual impact on our city!

All Ontario garbage would be trucked in while the rest of Canada's garbage would come by rail. Sudbury is located at the crossroads of Canada with two Trans Canada highways and both national railways within our city. The city owns its own power grid, and all are located within one mile of the Twin Stacks.

To further power our economy, this eco-friendly trash to cash idea would generate more revenue from the electricity we produce, which would be sold to the winning city naming rights bidder at a discount rate to increase the incentive to buy our city naming rights. With a projected 100 more years of mining, and given the price of electricity and insatiable volume demand, the saving are large while the payback period is small, so eventually the winning bidder recoups its entire investment. When seen in this light, one can understand why there may be interest in buying our naming rights and why a bidding war might erupt despite the large-scale upfront investment.

New jobs generate more employment insurance premiums, GST, sales, property, education, gas and income tax, while reducing unemployment benefit payouts, GST rebates, processing costs, unskilled and semi-skilled welfare rolls, welfare health care benefits, out of wedlock births, the use and sale of illicit drugs, crime rates, policing, prosecution and prison costs, so both senior levels of government have a vested interest and both eventually recoups their entire investment.

Ontario's total annual electricity consumption was 151 billion kWh in 2006. Ontario emits 203 milltion tonnes (megatonnes or MT) of greenhouse gases per year; 28% of the national total. We're a toxic sweatshop and the atmosphere is tainted with emissions from pole to pole.

A 2,000 tonne a day plasma gasification system costs 250 million $. We would require 16 plants to swallow 31 million tonnes per year, thus a 4 billion $ investment is required. In order to zap garbage already in the 10,000 dumps, which can be mined, more plants would be needed.

The produced syngas would be converted to hydrogen and sold to industrial suppliers. The current market for hydrogen is at least $50 billion worldwide, a figure that is expected to grow by 5 to 10% annually, according to the National Hydrogen Association, an industry and research consortium.

Premier McGuinty wants to spend "40 billion $" on nuclear energy, which creates a dangerous lifetime supply of nuclear waste, next to no new jobs, and zero jobs in the north. This project would cost nowhere near 40 billion and would make Sudbury the incineration Capital of the world and Canada's top renewable energy producer.

The federal government has "billions" to spend on fighting Greenhouse Gas. This project would provide the best bang for its buck! Methane gas is 24.5 times more powerful than CO2 as a GHG. We'd wipe out some 42+ million tonnes of GHG CO2 gases from entering the environment with this mother of all net energy producing idea!

Acquiring "smart garbage" would also require the government to complete the four-lanes of Highway 69 to Toronto sooner rather than later due to the increased truck traffic.

Incinerators and Plasma Arc are the future of waste disposal and uniting trash and tech is every enthusiastic environmentalist's dream. To stay in the energy loop you simply can't combine age-old wisdom with high-tech wizardry any better.

We do not become world class by building more money losing arenas when we already have more arenas than any city our size on earth. We become world class when we lead the way in municipal governance, things like making garbage a resource, not an ideology, and by creating our own electricity and jobs in innovative ways. When we are three decades behind a socialist country like Sweden, when our environmental laws are not even in the same league, we are not even on the eco-radar screen of being world class.

For a detail-oriented encyclopedic like blueprint and "ecological business plan" that is sure to clean up the environment and make "$udbury Green and Famou$" please review this link.

yoursudbury.proboards58.com/index.cgi?board=municipal&action=display&thread=1182490103

Garbage Collection

Garbage should only be picked up once every two weeks from October 1 to May 1, which will reduce fuel costs by half during this time period. The weather is colder outside and there will not be an odour problem or animals getting into citizens garbage.

No bag limited should be imposed.

Citizens and neighbours should also be required to start placing their garbage together at the curb wherever possible. Reducing the stop and start of the garbage truck will reduce fuel costs further year round. This will eliminate the garbage person from having to mount and dismount from the truck thousands of times and reduces wear and tear on their body.

Recycling pick up should also be reduced to once every two weeks year round, which will reduce fuel costs by half and save the ratepayer even more money. Additional Blue Boxes should be provided for free if need be.

Landfill Gas

The city has begun converting landfill gas to energy, however we are not harvesting and converting the carbon dioxide. Carbon Dioxide in landfill gas can be converted to dry ice for sale to industry. Carbon dioxide in landfill gas is actually just as profitable to recover as the methane. Some claim it's more profitable.

City Owned Gas Stations

The city should build at least two independent gas stations in the municipality. Everyone who owns a vehicle buys gas / diesel fuel and if they buy it from the city owned stations a new revenue source would be created.

Once we begin producing bio-diesel from our trash to cash incinerator / gasification plants we would be selling our own locally produced diesel. Oil and lubrication products would also be manufactured in Sudbury from a tire recycling plant. This fresh economy would provide citizens the locations for all of their biobased purchases.

Continued after jump...

[Max]

Water & Sewer

Eliminating fluoride from the water would save 600,000 $ a year. Only 2% of the water we produce is even consumed by humans. Nearly 50% of our water usage is for turf grass, gardens, landscaping and street sweeping. The remaining water is used to shower, shave, brush your teeth, wash your hands, rinse fruits and vegetables, cook, waiting for running cold water to turn hot, waiting for running water to get colder for a drink of water, household cleaning, washing clothes, dishes, cars, flushing toilets, filling waterbeds, pools, spas and for firefighting. None of these require fluoride in the water.

Studies have proven that fluoride provides no health benefits whatever. It is a chemical that is actually making people ill.

Case studies say people flush their toilets 5 times a day and having low flush toilets in 100,000 homes would save 500,000 gallons of water a day and 182,500,000 gallons a year!

Producing water requires electricity. There are some 73,000 residential units in Sudbury and, when businesses are included, the city could save the expense in producing over 180 million gallons of water a year by requiring all toilets in Sudbury be low flush, which would also provide massive savings in electricity cost.

Therefore, our by-law happy city should pass a by-law requiring low flush toilets, shower head and aerator faucets be installed. Bought in bulk, a water conservation package that includes low flow toilet, shower head and aerator faucets costs 300-400 $ to manufacture and install. Average households could pay that off with one years savings on reduced water rates and energy savings because there is less water to heat. The payback to the city is just as fast as less water needs be filtered, chlorinated, fluoridated and pumped, so municipalities come out ahead even if they give the products away for free. New homes and businesses will not receive this incentive but still be required to install the products.

Our water and waste water treatment plants are worth some 1.8 billion $. Selling them would generate over 1.79 billion $ in capital funds for future development maneuverability!

Divestiture eliminates ratepayer funded operating expenses, adds new ratepayers to the tax roll, generates new business licence, vehicle registration, fuel and income tax revenues that local government currently does not pay, and still allows citizens access to all services and facilities.

The new buyer would have a built in 10 million $ profit as incentive to buy it. The 10 million would eventually be recovered by the city through property and other taxes the new owner pays.

The citizens will still have access to water and sewers; the city will just no longer own them. Under section Municipal Act, the new owner cannot charge more then it cost to operate the system. While the system currently does not pay for itself 100%, and rates might rise, this increase can be offset by a reduction in property taxes given all the new revenue sources cited herein.

Moreover, the city can maintain rate design as part of the deal. Water is currently managed as if it were worthless instead of the life-sustaining, valuable, and increasingly scarce resource that it is. A key step in moving toward more rational water management is to place a price on water that reflects its value and scarcity.

The best way to run a water system is to use a block rate pricing system where a low level of consumption that is required to satisfy basic needs is very cheap, while prices increase at higher levels of consumption. For instance, users pay a set monthly fee that includes 10 cubic meters of water; beyond that prices increase in steps from per cubic meter for high-volume users.

Higher prices will lead people to use water more efficiently and encourage households to buy more water-efficient appliances, reducing the amount of water they waste. Many efficiency improvements are relatively inexpensive, and most pay for themselves over time. Any improvement that reduces hot water use can pay for itself because it saves energy as well as water.

The same principles would apply to the sewer rate. A basic monthly charge would apply to everyone. The more water you use the higher sewer rate you would pay. The city knows exactly how much water each ratepayer is using because they measure it, and this measurement should set the sewer rates.

A dollar of benefit to one person is considered to be worth a dollar of benefit to anybody else; however, an outcome that benefits very rich people at the expense of poor people is regarded as inequitable. The purchase of water is based upon a market system so the sewer rates should be as well. Users should pay for the quantity of service used, and the poor or conservative user should not be subsidizing the rich or excessive user, thus the current free rider system the city uses needs to come to an end. A free rider is a person who pays less for a service relative to the benefit he receives, and the free ride for the rich should end.

Currently a ratepayer who conserves water is paying the same rate as the non-conservative ratepayer. This amounts to the poor subsidizing the rich. A single poor person living in a 700 square foot home pays the same sewer rate as a rich person living in an 8000 square foot house with a wife and 5 kids. Why?

Selling to world-class management firm with a technological capacity, a strong record on environmental issues, a positive record of working with employees at all levels and with unions, and who have demonstrated experience in managing facilities of equal or greater complexity than our own is a win-win situation for our city. Policy making authority and rate design will remain in the hands of city council. Dealing with a large world-class firm will ensure that they are not a fly by night firm and any deal will include holding them 100 percent responsible for all environmental damage caused due to negligence.

Suez is the world's largest water company and one of the 10 largest companies in the world. Vivendi Universal is the second largest, of which USF Canada is a subsiary. Between them they have controlling water interests in 120 countries on 5 continents and serve over 120 million customers, thus we will issue an international call for tender of our waterworks.

Privatizing operations, improving environmental quality and saving money in the process says something important about government benchmarking. If we want to find out how well government is providing a given service, we cannot compare ourselves only to other government providers; we must compare ourselves to the entire market, public, private, domestic and international. Where government is concerned, best in class and best in the world are two quite different concepts, and there are no reason public officials and Citizens should settle for the former when the latter is readily available.

Halifax has successfully privatized its waterworks with Suez, Moncton New Brunswick has successfully privatized its waterworks with USF Canada, a subsidiary of the French giant Vivendi UniversalVivendi, and London Ontario has privatized with American Waterworks, which was acquired by Thames Waterworks, which is owned by RWEAG of Germany.

As part of our privatization we should attempt to have the winning bidder open an International training centre in Sudbury for water technicians and engineers. Paul Desmarais is from Sudbury and his son, Paul Desmarais Jr. sits on the board of Suez, so we already have an inside connection.

Should we not be able to sell our waterworks then we still need to outsource our water works operation.

Hydro

It cannot be said that the provision and pricing of a clean water supply, which council operates, is any less complex and technical than providing hydroelectric power. Greater Sudbury Utilities (GSU) produces no electricity whatever, (they just started producing landfill energy last week, a mere one MW) and simply buys electricity and resells it to us, yet GSU has a Board of Directors, which we are paying nearly 100,000 $ a year for. Why?

Eliminating GSU’s Board of Director would bring the decision making of hydro pricing and policy into an open venue (council meetings) where the public sees the process of the decision-making. Currently, the off-balance sheet of hydro assets, liabilities, income and expenses are not visible to the public, as the financial statements do not appear in the statements of the city, as hydro is a separate corporate body with its own accounting. Moreover, the public does not elect the Hydro Board of Directors and there is no pressure on them to produce reasonable rates and cost control measures that an elected politician faces.

Sudbury needs to push the frontiers of technology and become a pioneer in electricity technology. Inco's superstack could produce enough electricity for 200,000 homes and could've been doing so for the past 35 years. All of Sudbury homes and more could be taken completely off the provinces hydro grid; a massive power savings for the province.

Hot air rises, naturally, and the superstack operates as a giant vacuum. As the hot air rises in the stack it could past through an array of turbine generators clustered inside the stack. The result: enough clean, green electricity to power some 200,000 homes without producing a particle of pollution or a wisp of planet-warming gases.

Inco is also releasing stream and not even using the superstack and this stream can also be used to produce electricity. The heat from the superstack could also be harvested to heat Dynamic Earth and more homes and businesses in Copper Cliff, and all of which will make our city a global hotbed of alternative-energy entrepreneurship. Since Inco is not using these resources the city needs to take advantage of it and spend the money to develop this gold mind idea. Xstada's stack can produce electricity as well, but on a smaller scale.

Old mine shafts can be converted into a 350,000 kilowatts a day energy producing shaft by repeatedly using the same water over and over again. Water from a reservoir above ground would drop down the shaft through a power plant underground and then be pumped backed to the upper pool to be repeated again and again.

Electro kinetic road ramps need to be installed in our high traffic roadways to create electricity. When cars drive over ramps they produce electricity that would be used to power streetlights, traffic lights and cross walk signals, which will reduce our electricity costs, while other traffic signals should be solar-powered.

Installing Fifth Light lighting technology in all city buildings would save ratepayers up to 60% of the current cost in lighting city buildings.

Street Lighting

Every second general streetlight needs to be eliminated wherever possible. For example, on most main streets there is a light on every pole. The city began using 150-watt sodium lights that shine brighter and cover a greater distance yet they've needlessly added more streetlights on many streets. For instance, on Victor Street in Minnow Lake there are 5 streetlights that adequately cover 1/8 of a mile of road. On Bancroft Drive and many other main streets there are 8 streetlights covering that same 1/8 of a mile of road. Why?

On main streets there is more auto traffic and every car provides free lighting from their headlights.

In 2005 we spent 1.4 million $ on street lighting and eliminating half of the streetlights will save over 600,000 $ a year.

In the middle of the night (12:00 a.m. to 6 a.m.) we do not need the city lit up like a Christmas tree while everyone is sleeping, especially in the winter when it's minus 20 or 30 Celsius and no one is even out and about.

In the winter the snow keeps it lighter out and on many nights very limited street lighting is really even required. During a full moon, which occurs every month, we have a free lighting source yet every streetlight continues to be lit. Streetlights are also coming on to early throughout the year. Lighting each lamp a mere 10 minutes later each day would amount to a massive savings given the number of streetlights in this city.

Those that say street lighting is a security issue need to know that most crime occurs during the day or early evening, not in the middle of the night.

All new street lighting, including the ones being installed on the Kingsway East to the by-pass should be solar / wind powered.

Many, if not all, baseball fields are being needlessly lit up until midnight during summertime and on weekends when no one is even using the fields. Baseball fields continue to be lit during the week in October when the baseball season is already over. Why?

Many, if not all, tennis courts are lit up until midnight into October when it's minus Celsius weather and too cold to even play tennis. Why?

Outdoor hockey rinks are lit up when no one is using them or when the ice is already melted. Why?

All of this waste of money is being done to make GSUi look profitable at ratepayer’s expense. Apparently no one at city hall has ever though of putting a 5 $ light switch on tennis court or outdoor rink lighting which would allow someone to turn on the lights if they wanted to play during the hours the city is providing lighting. For example, from 5 PM to 12 AM.

Moreover, we provide free lighting for tennis, bocce ball and outdoor hockey rinks but not for baseball. Why?

There is one street light on Second Avenue that is needlessly lit 24 hours a day. Why?

How many other street lights are lit 24/7 for no reason?

There are two lights on the building located at Adamsdale playground; one on each side. Why?

There is a street light at the corner of the building which is not being used, and could be used to eliminate one of the lights. How many other playgrounds are using more lights than necessary?

In-Sourcing

In order to create new revenue the city needs to employ the technique of "in-sourcing" in non-traditional niche markets. For example, the city reads water and hydro metres every month. Union Gas reads its metres, too. Currently metres are read during separate visits so there is money to be made by efficiently reading all metres during one visit when and where possible. While every home has electricity not every home has gas. Therefore, it makes sense to have our hydro or water metre readers also read the gas metre instead of contracting out our metre readings to the gas metre reader.

Advertising

The amphitheatre sign on Paris street should be turned into a flashy neon video billboard sign. The sign is in a high traffic area and digital technology means money, as it allows a single billboard to draw revenue from a dozen or more clients. Digital signs are able to flash vivid new color images every eight seconds. The displays can be changed easily from a computer keyboard. They also have the capability to deliver important emergency information, such as Amber Alerts or disaster-preparedness bulletins.

The top 5 foot crown of the building @ 199 Larch Street should be sold for a scrolling video billboard to the highest bidding outdoor advertising company.

The Flour Mill Silos are in the shape of giant cans and could be painted as the world's largest “Six-Pack" of pop or beer and naming rights sold to the highest bidder. Or, the front of the Silos should also be sold for a giant video billboard to the highest bidding outdoor advertising company, while 3 giant pieces of artwork should be hung on remaining three sides.

Advertising on all city vehicles, city pay chegue stubs, inside baseball field and tennis court fencing should be sold. Building wraps, building wallscapes and window perf ads should also be sold to the highest bidder on all city buildings where possible. Printable window perfs maintain vision from inside the building while displaying ads on the outside. The city should also sell graffiti- and UV-resistant vinyl public utility and traffic control box wraps.

Full and partial city transit bus branding wraps and bus shelter wraps should also be sold. Bus advertising is the ideal medium to maximize exposure across the city as clients benefit from the coverage these hard to miss huge mobile billboards provide. Bus Back ads should also be available. By selling corporate and group branding rights for buses and bus shelters, the system earns additional income to limit the fares paid by passengers.

Pedestrian signals should be sponsored by corporations and the donation would be thanked by a plaque with the corporation’s name beside the signal. The city should begin a donate-a-park-bench campaign where a new bench has a plaque indicating the donor’s name.

City billing and Notices

For 22 years I paid my bill by automatic bank debit. Hydro is aware of this because I had to register with them to set up the account. Despite this, GSU continued to send me an envelope with my bill just in case I want to mail them a cheque. Why would I send them a cheque when I already paid them by bank debit?

This complete waste of money is occurring 6 times a year to every customer GSU has. Some might say this is just a little waste but we need to banish the word little from our vocabulary. There is no such thing as a little problem or a little waste; there are only little outcroppings of the tip of a Titanic ripping iceberg.

If there are 80,000 customers each receiving needless envelopes 6 times a year, this amounts to 480,000 envelops a year. This is also occurring with property tax bills twice a year for every property owner.

Therefore, the city should be using "Green Billing Accounts" (paperless) to eliminate non-value added activities and expenses. This program would eliminate some 1 million wasted envelopes, bill inserts, paper, ink, printers and postage. Millions of $ of complete waste will be eliminated.

"Electronic billing" is easy, it's quick, it's secure, and there is no bill paying service charge. Our "E-Pay" system would require you to enroll, following which you would receive an e-mail notification confirming the approval of your enrollment. The User ID chosen by you is to be used to Login into the system. After which you would be receiving an e-mail notification on monthly basis informing you that your bill is ready for viewing and payment is due in 14 days. On the due date you bill would be paid by automatic debit from your bank account or charged to your credit card, depending on which bill paying system you have selected.

Citizens without computers can use one for free at public libraries or city hall. Citizens who insist on receiving a paper bill would be responsible for the entire cost of issuing the bill.

The city is also wasting mountains of cash each year by wearing out printers, and incurring printer maintenance expenditures and printer ink, by needlessly sending Anglophone citizens bills and other information notices in both French and English languages. Why?

Since 60% percent of the city is Anglophone; the current costs of issuing bills and notices can be reduced by 60% by eliminating the French language version on the bill or notice issued to Anglophone citizens.

199 Larch Street

The city bought the building a few years back for some 17 million $. It is being financed, which includes interest payments. The city also incurs maintenance costs.

The city should sell the building which would eliminate the debt, interest payments and maintenance costs. The city would add a massive new ratepayer to the tax roll and net a profit from the sale due to the recent increase in property values.

Edison Building

The Edison Building in Falconbridge has been donated to the city. The city plans on using to store archives. The annual operating costs are going to be some 900 $ per day or over 320,000 $ per year. Nine hundred $ a day to store archives. That's over 37 $ an hour. The building will rarely be used. This insane decision needs to be cancelled.

Farmers Market

The Farmers market should be sold. It is not profitable and is competing against two grocery stores within 2 miles. It is costing some 1900 $ a week to operate, and probably more. It is only open 2 days a week from May to October for 45 seasonal vendors and a number of daily vendors. Selling it would eliminate operating expenditures and add a new ratepayer to the tax roll.

Libraries

In Kitchener (population 211,000) there are only 5 libraries. In Guelph (population 116,000) there is one library. In Barrie (population 125,000) there is also only one library. In Sudbury (population 156,000) there are 13 libraries. Why?

Sudbury only needs one architecturally designed landmark library. The south end library is less than 5 miles away from the main branch. The New Sudbury branch is less than 5 miles away from the main branch as well. Four other libraries are only open for 22 hours a week each.

We need to close all libraries and build a brand new architecturally designed multi level Library capable of holding 2 million books and offer a computerized card catalogue, information and circulation control system. The library should be located on the parking lot property beside the Sudbury Threatre Centre. The three properties beside the current parking lot will be purchased and removed. We would save the cost we are currently incurring operating 13 libraries. These costs include 13 telephone bills, 13 heating bills, 13 hydro bills, and 13 snow removal contracts, 13 building maintenance costs, among all other related costs.

Our new library would have two levels of parking, which will double the parking space and revenue, especially from Sudbury Wolves hockey games. This will also eliminate the cost of delivering books from one library branch to another everyday. The public library receives public funds to serve its customers; therefore it needs to be open in order to serve the users and ratepayers. Thus, we would have longer operating hours year round without an increase in cost after closing other libraries. We should also sell food and drinks in the libary for additional revenue. People who take the books home already eat and drink while using them anyway.

We need to sell all other city own library building or end leases if buildings are not owned. Selling the buildings we add up to 13 new ratepayers to the tax roll.

High tech efficient motion lighting should be used at all libraries. Lights in aisles of the library will only come on when someone enters that aisle, just like at Laurentian University.

Laurentian University library uses no paper at all when checking out books as they use Work Flow check out system by Sirsi, and this system needs to be installed at the public libraries. The library circulates over 1.1 million books every year and this paper checkout is complete waste.

There are some 90,000 library users. Currently library cards are renewed every year. Why?

This needs to change and cards should be issued once every 4 years as a cost saving measure. This would save more than 270,000 cards over four years.

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311

A 311 system may not put real control in the hands of the Citizen but when an agency has to respond to Citizens complaints and set deadlines for solving problems, and when those who complained can track the agency's progress, Citizens do get the feeling that what they say matters.

In a world that is becoming more and more dependent on virtual connections, these connections automatically lead to greater trust. The new currency of the Internet Age isn't simply intellectual capital it's social capital. When social connections are strong there's more trust. If we can reach across boundaries with the stroke of a key and click of a mouse we can easily establish the foundation for better relationships. Feedback is the breakfast of champions and such feedback can be particularly powerful when it comes directly from Citizens.

A 311 system should provide Citizens a 24/7 telephone and Internet one stop shopping point of access for all city services including non-emergency police services. Citizen can file complaints and police reports, report problems, such as potholes, graffiti or streetlight outings, request services and obtain information about city programs and events.

Trained operators and enterprise-wide software route them to the proper department. The software allows managers to set deadlines for response times and measure the percentage of overdue requests. Citizens can call back to track progress on their requests. When service requests are fulfilled, the system generates an email to the person, which gives them a phone number to call if they are not satisfied.

These reports help department heads manage staff, track trends, improve work processes, recognize outstanding performance and squeeze the most bang out of every buck. It's not just a Citizen Service Hotline, it is the most powerful management tool ever developed. The system allows the city to do more with less because they can see exactly how agencies are performing and mange our existing assets better and smarter.

The city needs to create a 311 website in order to make our 311 service function the way 311 services are meant to function. Otherwise the city has wasted the money switching from a 671-city phone number to 311, since nothing has changed or improved under the current 311 set up.

Budgeting

Traditional budgeting practices actively discourage savings. Those who produce savings have the savings taken away and given to areas that performed less efficiently and who overspend their budgets. The saver is then rewarded by being given less money the following year, since they obviously had more money than they needed if they didn't use it all. Our mission is to save money by reducing operating costs to increase budget maximization. Therefore we need to use a mission driven results oriented zero based save and invest expenditure control budget instead of a spend it or lose it envelope.

The budget process should start by identifying the services that the community wants and needs and is willing to fund. Therefore we need to review our mandate and define the priorities that will dictate the allocation of our funds to the priorities we should adopt. The decision that a service will continue to be provided does not mean the city will deliver the service directly just because that has been the practice of the past.

Responsible accounting procedures with every item of cost and revenue should be clearly identified with a single individual responsible for this task. Every penny of waste, fraud and abuse will be eliminated. There should be no hiding behind traditional and questionable accounting practices and allocations, no slopping of funds about to cover up ineffective management and no opportunity for finger pointing.

Purchasing

Sudbury needs to become more web-centric by creating a cooperative purchasing committee with other cities. By increasing the volume of purchases it will reduce per unit cost thus saving all cities money. If city buses, police cars, fire trucks, ambulances and city vehicles buy fuel in one purchase it will reduce purchase price. If we purchase fuel with other cities it will further reduce the purchase price due to a greater purchase volume.

Locally we can accelerate purchasing by using webnomics, an online e-procurement catalog with pre-negotiated prices to eliminate fraudulent price purchases. We should also employ user input on new equipment prior to purchase. Bidders provide samples for use for two week period trials free of charge allowing us to field test equipment prior to purchase to ensure it meets our needs. All Requests For Proposals should occur online eliminating all paper. Keyboard to keyboard government saves vast amounts of money in paper and storage costs. Fully 77% of Internet users believe digital government is a high priority, as do 73% of all adults.

Smart Sizing

The belief that government can do things cheaper than the private sector because it does not make a profit is a flagrant fallacy and reveals a serious degree of economic ignorance. The quest for profits always leads to greater efficiency and the resulting gain to the ratepayer far offsets the profit made.

The savings by outsourcing are found to be next to incredible. On average, outsourcing saves 25 to 60% in costs per department in wages and benefits, depreciation of equipment, office space and related expenses. We oppose monopolies in the private sector and enforce laws to break up monopolies and conspiracies that would restrain competition, but in the public sector we have unwisely permitted monopolies that prohibit competition of alternative choices under the delusion that total reliance on a single supplier is the best way to ensure satisfactory delivery if the supplier is the government itself.

Since we are suffering from a critical case of inefficient and ineffective management, it’s time to seriously clean up our logic and only more ethical and businesslike practices by business minded leaders can save us.

The range of possibilities for savings through outsourcing is great and has been used in other jurisdictions for every service local government provides. These savings can then be reallocated to other economic offerings. For example, as city employee's years of service increase their salaries get bigger and their workweek gets shorter due to more vacation time and sick days. When not working they are replaced with part-time employees whose training costs and wages further deplete funding that could be used for other economic offerings.

The issue is not public versus private; it’s competition versus monopoly. The available evidence confirms that the private sector performs so-called public sector services more efficiently and effectively than government can, and therefore, whatever non-governmental organizations can do better, or do just as well, should not be done by government. Government’s core responsibility is to be a service arranger and not a service provider.

Government should strive to implement best of the breed solutions by aggressively pursuing lower service costs and increased service quality through load shedding. Load and cost shedding is the partial or complete withdrawal of government from an activity. Load shedding allows non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to provide services and in some cases charge user fees thus reducing the number and level of publicly provided services financed through taxes. When this occurs tax levels can be maintained and even reduced as fewer services are publicly supported and provided.

Minimizing or total avoidance of tax increases is significant therefore, first we need to eliminate what does not need to exist then reform what is left. Load shedding can also be carried out by divestiture, default, accommodation, and by the gradual replacement of government activity with market and voluntary activity. Sudbury is in need of divesting of non-core government assets, such as ski hills, while preserving our core assets an anchor point.

The goal is not to privatize for the sake of privatization but to eliminate government monopolies or monopolies created by government because monopolies protect inefficiencies. Lower costs mean lower total operating costs to deliver the same degree of service and is simply measured on a fair basis, comparing apples to apples. Government privatization is one of the most important policy issues of our time and the limits on privatization reveal that there are no limits on the extent to which public services can be privatized as long as the privatization is appropriate structured.

Therefore, by selling our ski hills we would ring the city's cash register from the sale, reduce operating costs, add a new ratepayer to the tax roll; and citizen’s still have access to the hills.

Currently there is also no incentive for city employees to save the ratepayer money as employees get paid as long as they are on duty and regardless of their performance. Do it and we'll pay you reeks more of prostitution than of professionalism. Strategic contracting management and competitive sourcing programs use business plan methodologies and require city department employees to bid against the private sector for the right to their departments work every 2 years.

Competitive bidding creates competitive pressure to reoccur, as contracts are re-bid forcing service providers to repeatedly strive to lower cost and improve performance and service quality, which provides a competitive advantage to the ratepayer. If a contractor does not do the job properly we can terminate the contract; something we cannot do with city workers.

Contract workers are not constricted by job classification restrictions; city workers are.

Compared with the public sector counterparts, private companies have fewer layers of management and more employee flexibility. Competitive bidding provides a culture of cooperation with city employees and increases employee motivation, something that is non-existence today.

Total dependence on a single supplier is dangerous, whether it is a government agency or private firm, and the existence of choice provides a form of insurance. If several providers are delivering the same service and one fails, or is subject to too many work stoppages, or is inefficient, or ineffective, or unresponsive, or unsatisfactory, or too expensive, the public can turn to another supplier; something we currently cannot do with city workers.

So while government is not obligated to bid out services it is obligated to the ratepayer to formally examine the advantages and disadvantages of different service delivery options. City employees start bidding with a cost advantage, as they pay no sales, property or income tax and fuel tax is cheaper for city departments.

Moreover, private service firms generally pay various fees and taxes like local business tax, vehicle registration, property tax or rent, fuel tax and income tax that government does not pay. The sum of all these fees and taxes paid to federal, provincial and local government amounts to 15% of revenue. The costs of these taxes are included in the price charged by the firms.

Therefore, when a resident pays government 100 $ for municipal services he gets only that service. But when he pays a price of 100 $ for contract service he receives not only the service but also a bonus of 15 $ worth of other unidentified government service that the firm in effect rebates to the resident via its taxes and fees.

Outsourcing shifts the delivery of the service to the private or non-profit sector but he does not shift the responsibility away from government providing the service. Importantly, successful private bidders pay taxes to provincial and federal government and by the city pursuing these devices will put more money in government pockets, thus the city would be entitled to an award of more in grant aid from senior levels of government.

Given these facts, putting public work in head to head competition with private companies through competitive bidding does not disadvantage city employees, thus pursuing these mechanisms is favourable to the ratepayer. Competition is the single fastest route to savings without eliminating services. Since the advantages outweigh the disadvantages these programs must be implemented and the traditional model of the municipality as a self-sufficient provider of all services needs to give way to a new model of a municipality as a service arranger.

Thus, the city should be divided into 3 operating areas to prevent private sector monopolies. The winning bidders will be required to interview all the employees affected by outsourcing and the employees will have the first right of refusal to work for the contractor so a limited loss of employment will occur, if any.

Competitive wages and benefits would be required to be paid, albeit employees will no longer be city employees should they not be the winning bidder. Laid off employees will be offered first consideration to return to city service when a new job comes open, so importantly, no loss of employment will occur. An in-house career center to help employees find another job before being laid off would also be put in place, and attrition will reduce lay offs further.

This is not a de-unionizing anti-unionizing jugular attack on unions at all, as there are no barriers to unionization of the private sector. Moreover, under Ontario labour law, unions have a right to apply for successor union status with a successor employer who provides a service formally provided by the city, so employees can continue to be employed and unionized if they so choose.

Strikes by private employees have the same effect as strikes by public employees, but with 3 operating areas the striking union no longer has a monopoly over the entire city, and the impact of a strike will have no effect on services continuing to be provided.

Public employees are not entitled to greater job security than the vast majority of taxpayers who work without the dual protection of public-employee unions and tenure under a civil service system.

Therefore, competitive bidding contracts would be phased in when the current union contracts expire, and as such, employees will have time to be educated about the benefits of co-sourcing and have time to prepare their bids.

Gain Sharing

We acknowledge the power of economic incentives to foster steadily improving efficiency and companies employ it to bring us tires, cars, cosmetics and electronics, but for something really important like lower property taxes we currently eschew incentives. Recognition is a wonderful motivator. Used fairly and sincerely to show appreciation for good work recognition is almost impossible to overdo.

Cost management programs like gain-sharing incentives are designed to provide employees a personal share of the savings they create through efficient operation. Gain-sharing is the public sector equivalent of profit-sharing and is works by tapping into the creative abilities of municipal staff who know their jobs better than anyone else. It should be offered to as many departments as possible as long as the department meets specified levels of service and quality, however, some departments may not be eligible to participate in this program.

Union typically do not support gain-sharing programs--which benefit their members--because it involves eliminating waste, and eliminating waste eliminates employment hours, which means less union dues for unions. This mindset evidences that the best interests of the worker is not what matters most to unions; union dues do. The labour union philosophy of treating everyone exactly the same is completely out of sync with today's sentiment that individual differences, especially those reflecting contributions to enterprise, must be noted and rewarded.

Gain-sharing would be based on milestones and prohibit departments from billing for the same milestone more than once. Gain sharing will be awarded on a group department basis and not an individual one. This approach gives a direct incentive to work together so everyone has a vested interest in helping others to improve. If someone's performance does not improve, even after being provided help, the department can cut the cord and release him or her; because you're either a high performer or you're out. In other words, group rewards are less tolerant of performance problems while individual performance reward systems often end up with wide varieties of performance.

There is no point punishing the able by holding onto the inept, and keeping a foot dragger is unfair to the other people who must make up for foot draggers failures and untangle their mess.

Leaders often duck this responsibility because it's unpleasant, but purging the bad performers is as good a tonic for the city as giving rewards to star performers. Gain-sharing turns every employee into a budget cutter and offers a win for everyone. It provides a huge incentive for better performance without costing the ratepayer a dime; in fact, the ratepayer saves money.

Being rewarded for good performance helps employees to learn more rapidly and retain that knowledge more effectively. A bonus is a good reward for a job well done but advancement to a new job is not. Advancement is a function of ability not performance.

Currently unionized members wrongfully advance based on longevity of service, not ability or performance. All employees in every department would also be allowed to take advantage of an employee suggestion awards program, in which they can get up to 25% of the first year savings from ideas they come up with, to a maximum of 5000 $.

A study from the US department of Labour finds that 84% of employees would trade future income for free time with nearly half willing to trade a 10% raise for more free time. When possible we should offer employees the opportunity to exchange their gain-sharing earnings for more time off.

By co-sourcing, outsourcing and employing gain-sharing, we will promote a businesslike operational approach to government and provide services at a more affordable rate and bring stability to the property tax base. Thus it's time to dip into the innovation gene pool because our 1900+ high paying government jobs and pension planned full-time city employees have no incentive or requirement to perform.

As previously mentioned, do it and we'll pay you reeks more of prostitution than professionalism, and this backwards-looking mindset must change and new workflow logic employed. Employing this program would see fewer than 400 employees working for the city while the remaining work would be done through outsourcing, unless the city employees can beat the outsourced bidders bid. From a society-wide standpoint, what kind of sense does it make to employ 1900 employees if you can get the same job done with 400 employees and have other people produce the other services?

It makes zero sense, so why is the city doing it?

In a broader perspective, it's a very pro economic development because it means that our resources are being used in more productive endeavours overall instead of being wasted by being used inefficiently.

The first task in our smart sizing is to list all of the groups involved, such as department managers, the employees, the service recipient, and the ratepayers. Second, find out whom the people are that might lose on the privatization process and structure the policy as best we can to make sure they gain instead.

The second task is to identify all possible objections to privatization and the next stage is to tailor make the policy so that every single objection is dealt with in advance.

There is one further principle and that is we must maximize our chances of success in several ways. First, we would not outsource or privatize the difficult departments first. We should do easy ones first and use the success to gain support for the others.

The most important principle is that we privatize the privatization. We will hire the experts who do this for a living. They know how to do it and they have the contacts. The idea that government should try and learn what these people have spent a lifetime learning when we can simply buy it is simply nonsense.

Hiring independent think-tank experts ensured success the first time around because of lessons learned from their foreign experience in other city working laboratory. These experts are turnkey packages. Studies have shown that in every one of 59 types of services there were some instances of privatization, even in police and fire services, which may surprise some people.

Co-sourcing (means partnership in business with the private sector) competitive sourcing (means managed competitive bidding between city departments and private sector for the work) and outsourcing (means complete privatization of work) will ensure ratepayers never has to worry about a legal or threatened illegal strike shutting down the entire city again, and every future illegal striking employee should be terminated.

These mechanisms shift the delivery of service to the private and third sectors but do not shift the responsibility from government providing the service. They include public-to-public and public-to-private partnerships. Public to private partnerships eliminate government red tape and asset milk the expertise of the private sector thus eliminating employee training and upgrading costs.

While training costs should not really be viewed as a cost, but as an investment, eliminating the cost by co-sourcing is nevertheless advantageous to the ratepayer. Maximizing the private sectors human intellectual capital is the foundation to success.

As many departments as possible need to be outsourced to the private or non-profit third sector in order to reduce operating costs, which will free up funds that can be reallocated to new employment creating opportunities without increasing the cost to the city ratepayers or province.

Once office space is freed up it can then be rented out creating a new stream of revenue for the city. Once enough office space is available the city could offer the province free rent &/or, say, 500,000 $ to transfer a provincial ministry to Sudbury thus providing lower operating costs then in Toronto and creating hundreds of new highly paid jobs that would make more than a 500,000 $ annual impact on the city.

A new ministry might also result in West Jet or Air Canada returning to provide daily jet service to Toronto further increasing jobs and city revenue in landing fees.

Should a government department that pays no taxes and earns no profit not be able to compete again the private sector that pays taxes and makes a profit would clearly authenticate my central thesis of how inefficient the city is operating.

Our smart sizing process should proceed on two tracks, one for policy and the other for management. On the policy track we must determine what services to provide and how they should be financed. On the management track, we must evaluate all methods for effective and efficient service delivery. Within these two tracks we must ask and answer four fundamental questions.

What services should the city provide?

How should the services be financed?

How should resources be organized to deliver services effectively?

What is the most efficient method of providing the services?

So what are the negative aspects of privatization?

That's easy.

There aren't any at all.

The Contract Cookbook

A Chief Contracting Officer and Inspection Officers would be hired to map the processes of each department in order to streamline and eliminate non-value added activities and steps. In order to ensure contracts are un-manipulate-able a well designed and effective bidding process will be created. Contracts will contain a number of belts and suspenders to safeguard us from fraud by ensuring contracts are bulletproof.

All contracts would have staggered starting and ending dates. Contracts are project specific. Service contracts are for a 2 years term. Pre bid conferences are held to answer questions. Post contract conferences are held to discuss issues from previous winter operations to identify and solve problems.

All contracts would contain enterprise management performance standards - TIPS - Total Intelligent Performance Standards. Bid bonds and performance bonds will be required by private sector bidders to ensure serious bidding. Lowest responsible bid wins contract not lowest bid. Bid bonds are forfeited if the bidder declines the awarded contract. Performance bonds are forfeited if the provider defaults during the contract period.

Contracts would encourage winning bidder to employ gain-sharing programs. Pre-contract conferences with contractor and Inspector will be head to discuss issues relative to the project prior to work commencing. Financial penalties for inferior customer service will be imposed. Penalties for time over runs are also imposed.

We would not pay any tendered contract until the work is completed properly. This gives contractor's straightforward incentive to perform the work right the first time. We would have auditor's audit competition bids to ensure bids include all costs and are honest bids and filed by qualified bidders.

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Contracts have a ceiling but no floor. No service provider or company can bid on more than one contract. A mandatory residency clause will ensure local citizens are employed.

If not enough bidders bid or if bid is too high we re-advertise the contract. If a bidder drops out of bidding process we need to find out why and redesign future contracts to lure them back into bidding. Winning private sector providers have to post a performance bond.

A city Inspector would inspect all work and contractors must remedy unsatisfactory work before payment is made. When contract is complete Inspectors fill out an evaluation form that is filed and becomes part of the contract record. Records are kept in case they are needed should work prove defective.

Contracts would contain at will dismissal clauses. Road serviceability and road quality warranties for road resurfacing and construction would be required. City buses would be leased to winning bus bidders and once buses are retired from service bidders will be responsible for providing buses in bid. Busing contracts will be paid per route mile.

Any and all buildings or vehicles will be leased or sold to the winning contractors. Should that contractor not be the winning bidder in subsequent bids that contractor will be required to sell any purchased property or equipment to the new winning bidder.

Satisfaction Guaranteed

The world is full of guarantees, no two alike. As a rule, the more words they contain, the more their protection is limited. The professional firm marketplace is cluttered with claims to excellence and assorted quality, few of which are even credible.

A firm aiming to be a quality leader in the market should have the courage to offer an unconditional guarantee and will break through this clutter. So since risk taking is natural in any emerging industry all outsourced providers will be required to put their money where there mouth by signing onto our Value Performance Billing System.

The reward for work well done is the opportunity to do more, thus, the city, not the provider, determines what value has been received. This guarantee forces providers to live up to its own quality claims and ensures ratepayer satisfaction.

As buyers and public underwriter of services we have no basis to be able to judge value upfront. When the evidence is in at the end of the contract we'll know if we got value. This approach ensures providers perform adequately and professionally.

The city would purchase services on the proviso of using a monthly hold back payment system. Service provider would bill us monthly but the city will pay only 75% of the invoice and put the remaining 25% into escrow. At the end of the project, or year, the city will review its satisfaction with all that the providers has done during the project or year and then decide, at our sole discretion, how much of the remaining 25% to pay out.

This maximizes the provider's reputation and is a true relationship-building tool. The city can offer a bonus of up to 10% of the contract if the city is happy and should the provider go beyond the call of duty. Happy by design will be ill defined. With client-decides-value pricing, we must first decide whether to offer this form on a project-to-project basis or based on the totality of all work done for the city during the year, such as out sourced lawyer services and tax collection.

There is no point blindly testing the water with both feet because the water always feels warn once we're in it. The Value Performance Contract would read something like this.

Our work is guaranteed to the complete satisfaction of the client. If the client is not completely satisfied with our service, we will, at the client's option, either waive professional fees, or accept a portion of those fees that reflects the client's level of satisfaction.

When purchasing goods or products we would require providers to guarantee their products. The unconditional guarantee will read something like this.

If you are not completely satisfied with any item you buy from us, at any time during your use of it, return it and we will refund your full purchase price. Whatever, whenever, Always! To make this perfectly clear I've decided to simplify it further.

Satisfaction Guaranteed. Period.

City Council and Staff

It's time for this city to take our cultural cues from innovators and intellectual betters. The human resource surplus in this current fat cat city should be de-hired and un-funded.

As of January 2007, we had some 1400 unionized and over 400 non-unionized employees. This amounts to over 1 employee for every hundred Citizens. When outside contractors are included we have one employee for every 50 or so Citizens.

Middle management is nothing more than information relays and they do not add value; they destroy it, and need to be eliminated. The middle man(agers) is excess baggage that provide negative value, impedes the flow of information and clot the city’s efficiency arteries. Middle mangers are simply living off the sweat of the ratepayers’ brow and they are the weakest link! Supervising supervisors are baby sitters in corporate kindergarten and these unproductive layers of management need to also be eliminated.

Smaller staff avoids confusion and creates faster decision-making through improved communication and increased individual response. The highest quality power comes from the application of knowledge and the lowest level employees need to be crossed trained and empowered to make decisions.

Overtime

In 2005, the city allowed 21,066 hours of overtime. For every 5 hours of overtime we can employ a person for 8 hours at regular time. In 2006, the city allowed some 20,211 hours of overtime to occur. Why?

City employee's pension benefit is based on their best 5 years. Working loads of overtime is increasing their annual salary and will provide them a higher pension, which the ratepayer funds in part. Overtime needs to be completely eliminated and we should be using temporary workers who earn less hourly wages and receive no benefits or pension at all, thus reducing city expenditures.

City Clerk and Deputy Clerk

Currently the mayor is allowing the city Clerk and Deputy Clerk to receive a ratepayer funded pension plan and benefit plan at ratepayers expense when there is no obligation for ratepayers to provide them one. Why?

Section 228. (3) of the Municipal Act articulates that the Clerk and Deputy Clerk are not required to be city employees. This must end as ratepayers are needlessly assuming disability liability risk and paying for things we need not pay.

Councillors

Having 2 councillors per ward is a waste of money and duplication, as you don't get harmony when everyone sings the same note; and we don't get anything original from an echo.

Converting to a twelve-ward single representation system was simply designed to attempt to justify the need for twelve councillors. The process to enact twelve wards began less than a year after amalgamation when no evidence existed to prove the six-ward system was not functioning adequately. What needed to be done was not converting to 12 wards but eliminating 6 councillors.

Most cities in the USA have seven councillors. New York City is the largest city in the USA and has one councillor for every 157,000 people. Los Angles, the second largest city in America has fifteen councillors for 10 million people. Dallas Texas has 1.3 million people and 14 councillors.

Sudbury has 156,000 people, a budget of 480 million $ and 12 “clowncillors.” Calgary has 700,000 people and 14 councillors. Edmonton has 712,000 people, a budget of 1.8 billion $ and only 12 councillors. Vancouver has 545,000 people and 10 councillors. Saskatoon has 213,000 people and 10 councillors. Regina has 190,000 people and 10 councillors. Windsor has over 200,000 people and 10 councillors. Niagara Falls has 80,000 people, 12.5 million visitors and 8 councillors.

Kitchener has 211,000 people; ”56,000" more than Sudbury--and efficiently operates with six-wards and 6 councillors. Brampton also has only 6 councillors and a population of 433,806. That’s 275, 806 more people than Sudbury. This is the competitive benchmark we need to follow, thus we should begin to work smarter not harder and we'd do it with a smaller smarter workforce in the next election.

In 2006, Kitchener only has 20 employees in the 100,000 $ salary country club while Sudbury has 50. We should be benchmark influenced by our peers. The Prime Minister of Canada earns 144,000 $ a year in his first session so clearly we need to put our city on a diet and corporate anorexia is in order.

Upon amalgamation our local government shrunk by 35 politicians yet overall salary costs are drastically higher today. It is beyond demonstrable logic that our management staff is over paid. Underscoring this reality, a smaller council and staff is not only cheaper to operate but council meetings will also be harder to manipulate and improved white collar productivity will occur with more expeditious decision-making, just like our peer and benchmark influencers in Kitchener and Brampton.

Municipalities operate at the pleasure of the province. City councillors are nothing more than a board of trustees, just like school board trustees, and councillors should receive the same level of pay, 5000 $ per year.

Prior to property tax reform in 1998, school boards spend more than half of the property taxes which were levied by municipalities and trustee salaries were under 5000 $ at the time.

You should not enter politics for profit and currently our part-time councillors salaries are higher than 60 percent of the full-time Citizens who make 10 $ per hour or less.

Cutting six councillors jobs and reducing salaries to 5000 $ would save the city over half a million $ a year, every year! These savings can then be reallocated to more productive economic initiatives. Despite the 5000 $ pay schedule there is no shortage of people applying for a school board trustee position and there will be no shortage of people applying for a councillors position when we lower the pay schedule.

Nomad Council Meetings

The city has a City Hall and that’s where all meeting should be held. Holding council / Planning meeting around the city is needlessly costing ratepayers an additional 15,000 $ a year or more. All council meetings are aired on Channel 10 and all meetings of any type could also be held online for free and aired on the city’s website.

Municipal Elections

Currently Sudbury spends 815,000 $ to hold a local election. Less than 40 percent of eligible voters vote and this is unacceptable since it is such an important responsibility. I believe the right to vote is not really a right but a duty to society. Voting isn't like wearing a seatbelt. It doesn't just engage the interest of the voter, but everyone else's interests as well. By casting your ballot you are not just deciding how you will live your life, but how others will live theirs.

For that reason, the right to vote is not like other rights, such as the right not to be imprisoned without a trial, or the right to speak freely. The latter are rights that inhere in every person, by virtue of their humanity. The right to vote, by contrast, is a right restricted to Citizens. It is a privilege conferred on members of the club, by the other members. We don't let Citizens of other countries vote in our elections so since the right to vote is conferred by the majority, and can be taken away by the majority, then clearly we are dealing with something other than an ordinary right.

Rights are Rewards of Responsibility and those who seek to claim rights should only make such claim if they themselves have been responsible to society. You are legally obligated, if called, to serve on a jury; that is why it is called jury duty. Elections should be viewed as a trial as well, and the voters are the jury. You may say a jury is called upon to decide the fate of another but on the other hand, a Citizen who does not vote merely agrees to have his fate decided by others. But in reality it is not the government that suffers from voter inaction; every Citizen suffers. When less than 40 percent show up at the polls the government has less legitimacy, which may encourage others not to show up to vote next time as well.

I believe that if you do not vote you should have to pay a fine and if you do vote you should get a tax credit. City council is now elected for a 4-year term instead of three, so voting is more important than ever. Citizens are allowed to vote in advance, by proxy, and on polling day, so there is no excuse for not voting.

The right to do something doesn't mean that doing it is right. In order to make every vote count, a by-law should be passed that imposes a 200 $ fine upon those Citizens who do not vote, unless they are in a coma or otherwise incapable of voting for medical reasons. This amounts to a 50 $ fine per year. This will ensure a greater voter turn out and also raise city revenue to offset election costs from those who do not vote. For example, if 20,000 people do not vote the city will raise 4 million $. If 40,000 did not vote we would raise 8 million $.

Australia, Belgium, Greece, Brazil, Argentina have mandatory voting laws.

While local government cannot give tax credits municipalities do operate at the pleasure of the province and the by-laws local government impose are passed on behalf of the province.

Section 33(1) of the charter only applies to provincial and federal elections; it does not apply to municipal elections. Thus, imposing a fine for not voting can be upheld by the province under section 33(1) of the Charter despite the individuals "alleged" right to not vote.

To survive and flourish democracies need people to vote. People want democracy to survive and thus voting is not really a right at all; but a duty to society. You have to pay your taxes and you have to buy car insurance. What's the big deal if you have to vote as well?

A fine for not voting would remind people that freedom is not free. This would make people sit up and take notice that democracy isn’t a spectator sport.

Fire Service

The high costs of municipal fire departments, particular for labour, are legendary. Fire Chiefs typically try to make there fire departments grow to satisfy their ambitions as leader and to have deputies to do the work in the department which they themselves dislike doing. Given the strong traditions of conventional city fire departments and resistance to change, attempts to introduce new innovations will be met with fierce opposition.

Sudbury has two full time fire prevention officers, which seems high for a population of 158,000 people in a city with very few skyscrapers. Do we even have a building that can be considered a skyscraper?

Vancouver proper has a population of over 500,000 Citizens and has dozens of skyscrapers and yet they only have two-fire prevention officers as well, so clearly we're over staffed in this department.

We also have a fire fighter fleet manager. Why?

The police department has a fleet manager as well, which is duplication, and these duties need to merged as they make a great public-to-public partnership.

Every new constructed residential or commercial property of any type will be required to have a sprinkler system installed. This will provide major cost saving to the ratepayer going forward, as only one or two fire fighters will be required to respond to a call.

Our fire trucks need to have a PC-based computer emergency response software system installed which will display the fastest route to the call and display the floor plans of buildings and the locations of fire hydrants and to alert firefighters to anyone with disabilities living close to a fire who might need to be evacuated. The systems can also identify whether any pets are living in the home they are responding to.

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Police Service

To meet the challenges effectively, the police community must develop more productive partnerships among themselves, with private security, with businesses, and with Citizens. Because the municipality is at the bottom of the financial food chain and has few ways of increasing revenues, a creative mayor can quickly narrow public policing down to a very small core of functions that must be left in the hands of public police, and the remaining functions can be outsourced.

As medical, legal, dental, architectural, and other professions have become more highly specialized; they have adopted two-tiered services similar to those I am describing for police. In improving professionalism and specialization, it no longer becomes economical for doctors, lawyers and police to carry out the lower end functions of their profession, thus we have a host of assistance teachers, health workers, dental hygienists, para-medics, para-legals, and now “para-police.”

Public police officers act on behalf of the government enforcing laws, preventing crime, maintaining peace and order, responding to emergencies, and aiding individual Citizens when needed. Private police officers act to enforce government regulations and patrol streets in a crime prevention role.

The police budget is now 38+ million $ for 260 or so officers. The province has approved the hiring of 15 new officers. The province is paying the full cost of these officers for two years, thereafter the municipal ratepayer will fund the full cost, and thus the ever-increasing police budget is going to dramatically increase further. With the passing of Bill 206 police officers will also receive increased pension, and once again the ratepayer is responsible for that entire cost.

However, the city is in need of less crime not a higher police budget. The police department is trapped in the agenda trap of outcomes. In order to justify an increase in their budget every year the need for visible results is required, thus the output of more arrests to justify the annual out of control budget increase request. With an increased budget and more officers on staff more arrests are required regardless whether or not they are justified. However, we need less crime not more arrests.

Too much of our well trained, well paid, bullet proof vest wearing commissioned police officers time is being spent on non-criminal matters, such as transporting mental health patients to hospitals, crowd control and traffic violations, and Freedom of Information requests. This role can be shifted to non-commissioned officers. Evidence collected during an illegal arrest or search by commissioned officers is not admissible in court, but evidence collected illegally by private security is admissible, so they have an advantage.

Therefore, under section 5. (1) (6) of the Police Service Act we should hire two hundred non-commissioned reasonably waged private police officers that will patrol our city 24/7 to prevent crime and not just respond to it. That's 66 more officers on the streets at all times; 24/7/365.25 days a year. Crime would disappear and we would not need to hire anymore commissioned officers. In fact, with less crime we would lay off commissioned officer and the savings would pay for the newly hired non-commissioned officers.

This will form a bridge to the island of innovation. These beat cop officers will be staged at various points within our city and patrol neighbourhoods. They would monitor corner stores and gas stations that are often robbed. They will not just be driving around from one side of town to another wasting fuel.

There would be 3 to 4 cop cars in each neighbourhood at all times. There would be an officer within a mile or two of one another throughout the city, 24/7 for quick response time. When an incident occurs, such as a robbery, there will be 10 or more cruisers at the scene within seconds.

They would also be watching for pooper scooperless dog walkers, a serious problem in this city where heavy fines will be imposed. They will collect fines on overdue library books, monitor parking meters, control traffic, control crowds, respond to resident and commercial alarms, conduct Freedom of Information requests, conduct Internet issue investigations, and respond to and investigate car accidents.

Citizens are permitted to make citizen arrests and no training is required. Non-commissioned transit police in Vancouver carry guns therefore so would non-commissioned police here. Armoured car employees carry guns and they are not even a licenced industry.

Even if our non-commissioned officers do not carry a sidearm, carrying a gun is not even that important. It is the sight of a police car and the knowledge that it contains a police radio that will prevent crime, not a police gun. When criminals know there are 10 armed or unarmed commissioned or non-commissioned cops within a few miles and just seconds away they will think twice before committing their crime.

The city already uses non-commissioned officers, such as by-law officers, private investigators, park security enforcement and correctional officers, so this idea is really not new; it just needs to be expanded. Many businesses use private security firms and Pinkerton detectives existed in Ontario before the Provincial Police even did. Across Canada there are special constables, designated constables, auxiliary constables, and special municipal constables, and this phenomenon is global.

In Canada private security to public police is 2:1 and in the USA it is as high as 8:1. Private security officers have the same power and protections granted all Citizens in the Criminal Code without the need of being sworn in as special constables to be able to exercise peace officer powers. They do however have full or partial powers to use firearms, which Citizens do not.

As agents of the city, private security officers can arrest anyone found committing a criminal offence. Officers are to inform the accused of their rights under section 10(a) and 10(b) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The law requires them to turn over the accused to a peace officer immediately.

The private officer can also search an accused for weapons incidental to an arrest. Officers have limited authority and are subject to a higher threshold of reasonableness than police officers; however, they do have the ability to limit section 8 Charter rights and freedoms.

Detention has also been deemed not to trigger a Charter involvement. Section 5. (1) (6) of the Ontario Police Service Act allows the municipality to adopt a different method of providing police services, and this is the way to increase our core public policing responsibilities at a much cheaper cost to the ratepayer.

Commissioned officers are generally immune from tort or criminal liability for false arrests so they have no fear in being careless. Non commissioned officers lack this protection thus they will be more careful.

The private security sector is one of the heaviest regulated industries in Ontario. The quality control loops and the accountability loops in the private security industry are tighter than in the public police sector.

Overseeing the private security sector are the local police, the Solicitor General, with their enforcement arm, the Ontario Provincial Police, with their enormous powers to investigate, mediate, and cancel licences, and the insurance industry that track every blemish and adjust premiums accordingly. Private sector security is also subject to undercover client audits.

Every survey that's done comes back with the same result; Citizens want a visible presence of uniforms on the streets. The bottom line is security, not who provides it, and a blending of policing is the way we will go. The most successful private law enforcement company in Ontario is called Intelligarde, and this is whom we should contract out this new service to.

Moreover, upon the expiry of the Police collective agreement our entire Police Service should be contracted out to the Ontario Provincial Police. This is permissible under Police Service Act provisions 5 , 6 and 10. This will generate huge savings.

Currently our Chief and Deputy Chief of police make a combined salary and perks of 350,000 $ a year and neither one of them ever patrols our streets. They are nothing more than spokespersons and budget drafters. Contracting out to the OPP will eliminate the chief and deputy chief wages / benefits and pension cost as the OPP already has a Commissioner.

Our Police Board will no longer have to pay 5000 $ a year in Association dues because the OPP already pay them.

The chief wants 12 million $ for a new communication system in Sudbury. There are 158,000 people and only 260 cops.

The OPP built a new communication system for 3 million $ which covers all of northern Ontario, so clearly the chief of police is trying to rip us off and pocket 9 million $. If we outsource policing to the OPP the new 12 million $ communication system will not be required because the OPP already have one.

Police Service Board members and expenditures will be completely eliminated as the OPP already have a board. Currently, every month the same Board members are off traveling around for two to four days at ratepayer’s expense and all we get is a statement that they felt it was really beneficial.

This will be a win-win-win-win situation. A win for the public police, who can concentrate on serious crime for which they are trained, a win for the para-police, which will increase employment in our city, a win for public safety, and a win for the taxpaying fatigued Citizens that pay the ever-increasing police budget.

Unfortunately we have a leaderless mayor who refuses to sit on the Police Service board and lead, despite being a Peace Officer and Police Service board member by virtue of office.

Should the public police object to such a two-tiered arrangement it would be clear that they are more interested in protecting their status quo job monopoly than in protecting the public.

Additionally, all police cars should have opticoms installed to hold green lights and turn red lights green when they are responding to a call or in a high-speed chase. All Police cars should have camera installed for the safety of both officer and Citizen. Tapes would be used in court and not require the officer to attend, thus saving costs and ensuring convictions. Officers on the beat should wear head cams and there should only be one officer in a car, where case studies have shown it is just as safe and more efficient. Two is duplication.

We should no longer pay suspended officers pay. Ever.

Section 67. (1) of the Police Service Act reads;

Suspension

67. (1) If a police officer, other than a chief of police or deputy chief of police, is suspected of or charged with an offence under a law of Canada or of a province or territory or is suspected of misconduct as defined in section 74, the chief of police may suspend him or her from duty with pay.

Under section 29. (2) of the Provincial Interpretation Act the word "may" makes it optional; not mandatory.

Criminals and by-law violators from outside of the city should be billed an additional surcharge on fines, as non-residents need to make a net contribution to the policing services local residents provide them.

All convicted criminals should also be billed transportation costs.

We also need smaller fuel-efficient police cars for officers who are responding to non-emergency calls. We should no longer allow gas guzzling SUVs to be driven around in the city by supervisors. Under Police Service Board Regulation 926 (15), compact cars are allowed for general patrol and sub compact cars are allowed for non general patrol.

The city should attempt to lease police cars for $1 a year, in exchange for allowing the cars' hoods, trunks and sides to be used for advertising purposes from companies such as auto dealers or manufacturers, supermarket chains, insurance firms, big box stores, banks, or whoever.

Photo Radar

Wasting people's time is a serious offense. Citizens are time starved and they need to get where they're going and it's our job to give them the green light, therefore, speed limits on all of our major roadways should be raised by 5, 10 and in some cases 15 kilometers per hour. Setting speed limits at realistic levels rather than so low that most drivers are sure to ignore them is a responsible thing to do.

Raising speed limits by 10 kilometers equates to 6 miles an hour. This is not unreasonable nor will it cause an increase in accidents since most people drive more than 10 kilometers above the speed limit already. Police rarely issue tickets unless you are doing over 10 kilometers above the posted speed limit anyway. Moreover, roadways are meant for cars and trucks, not people.

People speed because they know the chances are there is not police radar anywhere. Using photo radar will indeed slow down traffic because it operates 24/7/365.25 each year. You can’t beat it; ever.

Photo radar and red light cameras would be installed and our speed limits and stop light laws will be strictly enforced. These devices should be outsourced so there will be no cost to the city in buying, installing, maintaining, loading and unloading each camera, developing and delivering digital film, and back office tracking of each notice of liability.

The city would take a percentage of the revenue they generate and our traffic will flow smoother and our laws will be properly enforced at all times with no increase in costs to the ratepayer or police budget. This will in fact reduce police costs as they currently purchase radar equipment, man speed traps and appear in court to testify. All of these costs will be eliminated or reduced and a new stream of city revenue created by those who violate our laws.

And be aware that photo radar is not illegal, contrary to the comments of the Liberal government. Section 5. (1) (6) of the Ontario Police Service Act allows the municipality to adopt a different method of providing police services, and this "virtual shield" is the way to increase our core public policing responsibilities at a much cheaper cost to the ratepayer.

Roads

The transportation system is the ultimate public - private partnership. Cars and trucks are almost all privately owned whereas the roadways are almost all-public property. Why are roads free anyway?

If freeways were feeways our property taxes could be vastly reduced. Sudbury has some of the worse roads in Canada and it is imperative that we develop and implement a menu of twenty first century solutions and policies to enhance our transportation system, as everyone hates congestion. It wastes time, fuel and adds to pollution. It also sometimes results in violence induced by road rage.

To sidestep the deficiencies in our system means status quo wins and the funding dependency on the ratepayer will continue to rise.

Road pricing is a very attractive way of addressing excess of demand over the supply of roadway space. Road peak load pricing has been used in Singapore for more than 25 years and in London England since 2003.

Currently we charge for parking downtown where locally owned and operated businesses are located while we charge zero for parking at malls and big box stores. Most of the money stores earn downtown stays directly in our city while most of the money earned in malls and American owned big box stores completely leaves our city. Ratepayers spend the same amount of money providing public funded road service to malls and the big box stores as we do to the downtown core, but only the downtown core is being punished with parking fees. Downtown also pay Business Improvement Area fees, which the bix box stores and malls do not pay.

User pay service fees for parking, city transit, ski hills, arenas etc are charged because they are used only by people who use them and not by the community as a whole. In an era dominated by a car culture, it does not seem at all unusual to many drivers that an efficient road system should be readily available for free while use of public transit contains a user fee competent. Serious consideration needs to be given to making public transit a free service while roads will have tolls.

Many cities in other parts of the world already charge motorists for using their roads, thus Sudbury should begin a 3 $ roadway improvement pricing fee throughout the city and all revenue raised will be earmarked for annual road resurfacing and improvement program.

Our entire city should be declared a Business Improvement Area under section 204. (1) of the Municipal Act. Malls, downtown, the casino, grocery stores and employers locations, etc., would be subject to this fee, but some businesses, at the city's discretion, will be exempt, such as corner stores. Emergency service vehicles will also be exempt.

Currently we pay 3 $ to park at the hospitals, airport and University. We even pay higher prices to park downtown so this roadway fee concept is not unreasonable. Every cent earned will go directly into our road-resurfacing program.

Section 208 of the Municipal Act allows us to apply a levy on anyone within the city. Thus we would raise some 15 to 30 million $ or more per year through this fee system. That's 60 to 120 million every four years without increases taxes one cent!

The fee would be applied to the property owner who would in turn pass it on to the tenants of the properties who in turn would pass it on to its employees or retail customers. For customers, this amounts to a penny or two increase on products.

This program would not only raise revenue to resurface our roads but will also reduce congestion on our roadways by encouraging Citizens to car pool more often and use our public transit service. And less cars means less greenhouse gas emissions. Citizens can avoid the fees by walking, biking, getting dropped off, taking a bus or taking a taxi.

Those who complain about this new fee need to realize that roads are maintained by revenue raised through higher property taxes, so they are already paying the full cost whether you use the roads or not. These costs are going to continue to climb but now would not be funded solely through higher taxes.

A basic principle of public finance is that beneficiary should pay. Where a direct beneficiary of a public service can be identified and charged for service, a user fee should be imposed.

When user charges are used instead of the general budget to fund an activity, unjustified cross-subsidization by non-users is avoided. Thus, it makes more sense to charge those who use the roads for the roadway maintenance than to keep raising everyone's property taxes to pay for these costs.

Resurfacing roads costs 12 $ a square meter. Milling, grading, repaving and line striping one kilometer of 4 lane roadway costs approximately 250,000 $. There is 3521 lane kilometers of roadway in Sudbury. Not all are in need of resurfacing and not all are 4 lane roadways, some are only 2 or 5 and 6 lanes wide when turning lanes are included.

Our annual resurfacing program should include a pavement warranty by the contractor. Those who build or resurface our roads would now be required to also maintain them for the life of the pavement warranty period.

A contractual guarantee that the road will function appropriately for 15 to 20 years, and if it does not, the contractor must replace or repair it at no cost to the city. This will provide incentive to the contractor to build it in the highest quality fashion so it will last the life of their guarantee.

Anti-Gridlock

Everyday Citizens must digest a breakfast lunch and dinner of tens of thousands of cars, trucks and buses. Giving Greater Sudbury the Green Light with our new thoroughfare assessment program would save up to a few hours a month in travel time. Fewer stops mean fewer accidents, savings in police, ambulance and fire service costs, and will save Citizens fuel and money.

Canadians spend 600 million $ a year just idling. Twenty-five percent of Canada's greenhouse gas emissions come from cars. The bulk of this is from idling at traffic lights or while struck in traffic.

Drivers would average one quarter as many stops if we synchronize and coordinate traffic light timing in a better manner. Reducing left turns on some roadways and converting two-way streets into one-way streets where possible will all improve traffic flow. In off peak hours the city should have more flashing yellow lights than your average Christmas tree.

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Snow Removal

Garbage trucks should be capable of being fitted with plows, just like in the USA, and can assist in plowing only when need be. This will eliminate or at least reduce the need to purchase new equipment.

We already know where our roads are so a detailed efficient snowplow road map guidance system needs to be outlined. The most fuel-efficient plowing route should be laid out and installed in a computerized voice box that will direct the snowfighting driver where to turn as he's plowing, thus no roads will be missed, and no roads will be plowed twice before every road is plowed at least once. This system should be online and Citizens should be able to access our 311 website and see exactly when their road will be plowed.

Our city faces snow removal costs that many cities in Southern Ontario do not. We have no control over how much snow we will receive and we cannot forecast it. We also have no control over gas prices, which greatly affect our snow removal costs. We receive no additional financial assistance from the provincial government for this burden. The city should demand that we receive more of the gas tax to cover these uncontrollable costs.

Snowplows are also destroying our curbs. Go look at the curbs in your neighbourhood and you will see cut marks in the curbs and huge chunks completely missing. This damage is from plowing. If we build our curbs with curb cuts (like your driveway entrance curb) this damage would be nearly completely eliminated.

Curb cuts also provide cheaper construction costs then the typical high curb. High curbs are not providing any safety measure so there is no reason to build them. Moreover, in some instances, with curb cut curbs the plows could be plowing the road and sidewalks at the same time.

If our snow banks are 3 feet high the city no longer removes them, and rightly so. However, when the snow bank reaches, say, 5 feet or more, the city removes the entire bank. Why?

Why not just reduce the snow bank to 3 feet, which the city already finds acceptable, and stop wasting our money removing the entire bank.

Parking Lagoons

Our 2357 parking spaces in 12 city owned parking lots, two privately run lots, and street metered spaces currently brings in some 1.3 million $ in parking fees a year, but amazingly we only netted a mere 26,000 $ in profit in 2005.

Salaries for parking enforcement officers is rose to 455,000 $ in 2006 so our net earnings fell due to no increase in revenue. The city needs to sell most of these lots. Parking lots would be required to remain as parking lots for public use, although construction of businesses above the lots should be permissible provided the parking lot on the main level remains available to the public and the number of parking spaces are not reduced. This will not only increase the ratepayers to our tax roll, but also bring in net cash from the sale of the properties. It would also eliminate our current snow removal costs, lighting costs and parking enforcement officer's salaries and benefits.

City Transit

The city needs to get out of the bus operation monopoly and should instead become a facilitator, coordinator, inspector and enforcer of driver safety. During off peak hours our full sized buses are carrying no more than a few passengers. Every bus on every route is running at a loss.

In 2006, the city spent 4 million $ on buses that included 2 million $ on a high tech fare collection box and bus tracking system. The most pressing needs are not technical ones. What is needed is to set the conditions under which public transit has a clear role to play and where it can attract sufficient passengers for success. Bus stops and bus shelters provide absolutely no information; no timetable, no fare table, no route plan and no description of which bus stops there, thus rendering the service impractical for anyone other than the regular user. What good is collecting global positioning system data if it’s not going to be transferred to the bus stops, web-enabled cell phones, mobile devices or home computers?

Peak period operations are the costliest as we need to buy, maintain and hire enough buses and drivers to handle peak load. Outsourcing bus service has produced cost savings of 60% in other cities. Giving private bus companies operating rights but maintaining fare, route and service hour decisions is in the ratepayer's best interest. Each operator will have curb route rights in one of the 3 operating areas.

Taxis drivers make a commission from rider-ship. Bus drivers commonly fail to stop for people who are racing to a bus stop and if they were on commission they would have incentive to stop and pick them up. To increase rider-ship we need to provide better service. In northwestern Ontario you can flag down a passenger train, therefore passengers should be able to hail a bus just like we flag down a taxi, and not only be required to be picked up only at a bus stop.

In New York City and Los Angles, America’s two largest cities, mini buses are used, so why are they not used here?

Twelve to 14 seat mini buses are cheaper to buy and operate, and thus provide a huge advantage over conventional buses in off peak hours. Mini buses are cheaper on fuel and driver wages are lower. A more frequent service can be provided with mini buses for the same cost as a conventional bus, and increased bus frequency is important in attracting more passengers.

Public transit wage rates have been permitted to rise artificially high by the non-competitive environment. School bus drivers, who move more passengers annually than public transit drivers, are paid competitive rates well below the public transit monopoly rates. Are these drivers who are responsible for transporting our children any less important than their counterparts in public transit?

Of course not.

Private bus companies and public school authorities have no particular difficulty in obtaining skilled drivers, even though they employ more than ten times the number of drivers that are employed by public transit monopolies and pay competitive rates that are substantially below monopoly rates.

Thus it is a private interest for the drivers, not a public interest that is being served by paying more for public transit than is necessary. By paying more than the competitive rate, the user receives lower service levels, and taxpayer funds are less efficiently used.

All buses should have opticoms installed, which give buses priority at traffic signals. Buses can hold green lights and turn red lights green as the bus approaches the light, just like fire trucks do. These devices can be turned on and off thus they can be employed on a full time or part time priority, peak hour and non-peak hour basis. Bus priority must be implemented when it is needed most.

It comes down to a simple question. Does public transit receive public revenue to serve it customers, the users and ratepayers, or to serve itself?

Alternatively, if possible, the bus service should be registered as a charity since it provides a public service.

Train Tracks

The city needs to relocate downtown & Flour Mill CP & CN freight rail yards and reroute trains around city core. The provincial government helped both North Bay and Niagara Falls with funding to remove tracks from those cities, thus they would help us, too.

Once this is done the city should add 4 high speed light rail commuter trains to service edge neighbourhoods with downtown on existing tracks, thereby creating a tree-lined transitway. Electro kinetic rail ramps would be installed in the tracks and would produce electricity from the passing trains.

Each 94-foot long train car would be manufactured by Bombardier. A train may consist of two cars coupled together if need be without adding an additional driver. Each car has four doorways and can hold 66 seated passengers plus standing room for 120. Inside each car are four luggage racks and four bicycle hangers.

The city could then a build Grand Central Station downtown for CP & CN passenger trains, new commuter trains, taxis, and city and Greyhound buses, instead of having them scattered all over the city. The remaining tracks should be converted to bike-blade-walking-cross country skiing trails.

The city would recoup up to 60 million $ once the CP land downtown was sold for development. At the end of the process the city would reduce bus expenditures, reduce freight train noise and liability risk in the city core, improve pedestrian traffic downtown, rebuild owntown, add more ratepayers to the tax roll, and end up with more property tax $ than today from that massive parcel of land. And both CP & CN would still remain operating in the city.

Smart growth is the alternative to sprawl, and smart growth requires building around a transportation system. Removing the train tracks, building a proper transportation system and thousands of condos next door to it is Smart Growth in the extreme. There is already a grocery store on Lorne and Brady Street, with the farmer market on Elgin; all within walking distant of this smarth growth location.

Public Housing

The city has some 225 million $ tied up in over 4000 subsidized housing units. The city could increase public housing to nearly 2 billion $ without increasing property taxes one cent by employing the following formula.

The city should sell current units to the people who live in them. There would be no money down, no legal fees and a 10% discount from the market price. For example a 80,000 $ apartment will be sold to the occupant for 70,000 $ with no money down and no legal fees. The city has lawyers on staff. Apartments would now become condos. Not all current tenants would want to buy but those who do should be allowed too.

Should a residence miss two payments the property automatically reverts back to city ownership and the resident is evicted. Should the resident not do proper maintenance to the property they would also be evicted and ownership reverts back to the city.

Ownership of these properties would build self esteem in the person and instead of paying rent to the city and owning nothing they would have a mortgage payment and own a home. They could take in a student or two to help pay the bills if need be. As the property value increases so does their net worth and self esteem. These new owners would also become new property tax payers. We currently receive no property tax $ from over 4000 homes and are required to provide them policing, fire service, maintenance, lawn care and snow removal.

Once the 225 million $ of housing is sold at a 10% discount the city would have some 203 million $ to build more new houses. Once this lot of properties are sold the city would recover some 183 million $ to build more homes. This process can be repeated until there is no money left. Build - sell. Build - sell, etc.

At the end of the process the city would build nearly 2 billion $ in new housing, create hundreds of jobs over the next few years, create some 20,000 new property tax payers for a revenue win fall, and drastically reduce city staff and current operating expenses. City businesses would benefit not only from the money spent on construction materials but also when the newly created construction employees spend their earnings in our city.

The bulk of these condominiums should be constructed downtown around our new Grand Central Station and transportation system.

City employees affected would not unemployed, they would be redeployed to other jobs. Many would still be employed in housing as inspectors and to provide the new home owners assistance to ensure they maintain there properties.

The city would eventually recoup its current 225 million $ investment in housing when the new residences pay property taxes. Money we're not recouping now and never will. Residence's who move or want to sell their homes / condos must sell them back to the city at 10% below market prices plus all legal expenses.

Welfare

Super smart cards can be designed to work with grocers thus ensuring money issued for food can only be spent on purchasing food. Contracting all welfare recipients to one grocer who operates city wide will provide the grocer with guaranteed weekly revenue. The grocer in turn would provide discounted food pricing maximizing recipient and ratepayer value without increasing the burden on ratepayers.

Social Planning Council - Red Cross Utility Bank

The Red Cross has a utility bank set up to help Citizens in need of aid with utility costs. The program requires Citizens to have an income or they are refused assistance. Why?

What kind of program designed to help people in need would only offer assistance to people with income?

The city is providing 25,000 $ to the Red Cross and the province provides 200,000 $ annually. Sixteen percent of the money is wasted on administration cost, including employee salaries and perks.

The city should no longer provide the Red Cross funding. More pathetic is that our Social Planning Council, where councillor Janet Gasparini is the Exclusive Director, has a Utility bank as well, an exact duplicate program with the exact duplicate eligibility requirements as the Red Cross.

When a Citizen is denied assistance at one service they are given false hope and sent to the other without being told that the eligibility requirements are the same.

Homeless

The city recently provided some 417,060 $ to 8 different agencies to manage the new 110,000 $ homeless program. Why?

The Canadian Red Cross, Sudbury Branch; Canadian Mental Health Association; Elizabeth Fry Society; John Howard Society; L’association des jeunes de la rue; N’Swakamok Native Friendship Centre; and the Sudbury Action Centre for Youth have hired 10 employees with the money to tell people, oh, sorry, we can't help you because there are no places available.

Only one agency is required and paying 8 agencies to do the work of one is beyond ridiculous. In a few months these agencies will be back asking for more money and the answer should be No.

With 400 homeless people and an 110,000 $ budget each person gets $ 22.91 per month for shelter from the city that promised to end homelessness completely. That's 76 cents a day for housing.

Imagine looking for work, an apartment or attempting to maintain any critical relationship without a telephone?

This is what our homeless face.

A Community Voice Mail Program will help the homeless overcome the disadvantage of being without a telephone. Community Voce Mail is dignified and personalized and provides the missing link between social service case managers and clients, and between clients and the community.

Community Voice Mail masks homelessness and other potentially negative connotations that promote bias against persons without telephones and stable addresses. This service will be provided through electronic kiosks, which are user friendly and can be placed in libraries or shopping malls that provide longer hours of service then government offices.

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Pioneer Manor

Pioneer Manor should be sold to a private operator. This will raise cash from the sale; eliminate all operating costs and add a new ratepayer to the tax roll. The city currently has private operators who pay property taxes and there is no reason the city needs to own Pioneer Manor.

Funeral Homes & Cemetary Service

The bereavement industry is now governed by the Funeral, Burial and Cremation Services Act, and changed how the business operates and how they can be owned. The new act consolidated and modernized the Cemeteries Act and the Funeral Directors and Establishments Act.

Prior to the changes it was illegal to own both a funeral home and a cemetery or a crematorium. This new law cleared the way for cemeteries to own funeral homes and for funeral homes to own cemeteries.

Therefore, city owned centenaries should be sold to Lougheed's funeral home. This eliminates operating costs and add a new rate payer to the tax roll. Should they not wish to buy them, then the city needs to open up a funeral home since we already own cemeteries. A funeral cost up to 10,000 $ and there are 20+ funerals a week in Sudbury.

Pet cremation is a growing industry, as people begin to desire the same kind of burial options for their pet as they are offered for human family members. Adding a pet cemetery would increase our revenue. A Pet Cemetery is peaceful final home for our pets, and a lifetime of devotion deserves a lasting reward.

Property Taxes

Property taxes should be structured to encourage desirable results and discourage undesired results. If our city wants to encourage sustainable structures which reduce greenhouse gas emissions and conserve energy, it could do this by offering a tax reduction for buildings where significant improvements are made in these directions.

If our city wants to encourage sustainability-oriented businesses as a way to create jobs it can restructure the business tax to favour such businesses by offering lower taxes. If a municipality wants to encourage the retention of culturally important old buildings, it can reduce the property tax payable on them.

The present property tax system is structured as a disincentive to improvements. If more of the tax were levied on land and less on building, owners would not face the disincentive of higher taxes when they think of renovating and making small additions which increase the value of the property. If owners knew they could get a property tax reduction from making buildings more energy efficient, more would probably do so.

Updating an out of date provision that exempts telecommunications companies from paying property taxes on their poles would bring in millions of $ in new revenue.

Tax shifting has real benefits by moving the taxation burden off of "goods" and onto "bads," but whatever the wisdom of this tax shifting strategy, the city might need provincial legislative help to implement these changes.

Nevertheless, by employing some or all of the cost saving suggestions cited herein our revenue is sure to go vertical while property taxes drop due to the virgin revenue sources these ideas create. Thus it’s time to jump on these anomalies and drive a bull dozer at high speed through the public sector monopoly and smart size our city.

Muni-Credit Card

The city also needs to create a MuniCard. This is a credit cad that works like every other credit card but instead of receiving air miles or cash back users would receive a discount on their property taxes.

The Sudbury MuniCard would be a regular, no-fee credit card issued by a bank. At the end of each year, the resident can use rewards for a credit on property taxes, water or electricity rates.

The creator of the MuniCard is paid by the bank for each credit-card application. The bank pays the city directly to cover the tax discounts. The city gains no direct benefit from the card.

Citizens who use the Municard in our city owned restaurants and attractions would not only gets the user 10% off, but also allows them to use the cash back $ to reduce their property taxes, water or electricity cost.

Tourism

Tourism is the world's largest industry and the tourist demography is always on the move. By 2010, one billion tourists will undertake international tourism activities spending 9 billion nights away from home and 1 trillion $, making tourism the largest peace time movement of people.

Tourism and leisure is a growth post-smokestack industry, and in 2003, Canada was the 7th top tourist destination in the world. In 2005, Canada was the 5th tourism earning country in the world and is America's 2nd most visited tourist destination.

There are 12.5 million people living in Ontario. Nearly 1 million live in northern Ontario and 7 million live within a 4 1/2 hour drive from Sudbury. The Lakeland's, Canada's number one tourist region, is 2 1/2 hour away. Sudbury is located in a “wealth-belt” and there is an addressable market of 25 million people within a 3 hour flight. Tourism in Canada produces 600,000 direct and 1 million indirect jobs; but has Sudbury kept pace?

Given these population and tourist driven statistics within a short drive and flight from Sudbury, it is reasonable to hold as an idea that the development of a 21st century tourist destination will produce an adequate tourist supply and revenue stream while simultaneously generating hundreds of jobs.

Thus, based on these measures, Sudbury needs to add to its trophy collection and tap into the tourism industry economy in a major league way by injecting growth steroids into our tourism destination development veins.

While Science North and Dynamic Earth are both interesting attractions they are a one time experience. Dynamic Earth is not even open year round because he doesn't generate enough interest. Science North closes at 4 p.m. in the spring, fall and winter and at 6 p.m. in the summer because there is no interest in it.

Local government's role in economic development is to facilitate and promote the creation of jobs and wealth and to ensure that it does so in a way that serves the short and long run interests of municipality. The business needs of tourism may be direct or indirect, whereas a tourist "attraction" can meet economic needs in a direct fashion; a tourist "site" can act as bait for bringing business newcomers to a city. Therefore, we must create a tourist destination, not just a tourist facility.

Our 6 billion $ city has the debt capacity and cash flow to do something big. By selling our water & sewer treatment plants we would raise over 1.7 billion $ to create "Magnetic North;" the most viable four season Earthly Paradise North of the South Pole.

Add provincial & federal contributions, and strategic joint ventures with private sector partners and we could build a 4+ billion $ tourist trap that would make Disneyland look like a Mickey Mouse operation.

With the addition of possibly selling our city naming rights we would possibly add up to another billion $ or more to this Journey North venture. Sudbury would create its own "next economy" and become the city with a magnetic personality. Therefore, it's time for our "have not" city to get what the "have everything" have!

Creating new jobs lowers welfare rolls, out of wedlock births, the use and sale of illegal drugs, crime rates, policing, prosecuting and prison costs, while increasing spending in the city, gas tax, GST and income tax and other revenue for both federal and provincial governments, thus reducing the dependency on taxpayer support.

Senior governments would also increase their revenue from private firms that the new employees patronize when the employees earnings are spent. Instead of being a burden on the federal treasury a great many new people would contribute to it.

Studies estimate that for every million $ the government spends on public projects it gets back in tax revenue and employment insurance savings about 500,000 $. The net cost to government is therefore only about half of the actual investment.

The net cost could turn out to be smaller still. If the improvement in employment and sales prompts business to expand then the government would collect additional tax revenue and save even more in employment insurance payouts as a result of the jobs created by the private sector expansion. Thus eventually the government recoups all of its funding despite the large-scale upfront investment.

The three rules of building for future development are; (1) Build (2) Build at the lowest cost (3) if rule number 1 and rule number 2 conflict rule number 1 takes procedure. The maxim "if you build it they will come" is alive and well, however, if we don't build it, of course, they can't come.

Minnesota and Alberta are hardly number one visitor destinations by other criteria yet the 4.2 million square foot Mall of America (MOA) is the most visited shopping mall in the world with more than 40 million visitors annually, roughly eight times the population of the state of Minnesota, and employs over 12,000 workers. The 5.4 million square foot West Edmonton Mall draws 22 million tourists. Seventy percent of West Edmonton Mall visitors are from outside of Alberta.

Neither city has 12.5 million people living within 4 hours of it like Sudbury does. The theme park at the MOA is free, but the rides aren't. The Park at MOA covers only 7 acres and has about 25 rides, 3 entertainment stages, shops, trees, a stream, waterfall and wood buildings, yet MOA has more visitors per year then Disneyland and Disney World combined.

The notion of a themed entertainment has been around for thousands of years. Romans flooded the Coliseum and staged naval battles in it for fun. They even invented the word "Thema" to mean "fun in highly decorated areas giving added value to amusingly prepared experiences.

The birth of the modern theme park is commonly recognized as occurring with the opening of Disneyland about 52 years ago and the theme park industry has witnessed a fairly rapid international expansion in recent years.

Europe has a number of existing parks. The industry is spread throughout Western Europe with attractions in Germany, France, the Benelux countries, and the United Kingdom. Expansion of the industry into southern Europe is now taking place, with several planned or implemented projects in Spain, Italy, Turkey, and Greece. There are also a number of proposed projects in North Africa and the Middle East.

Asia is the world’s next leading international theme park market. It includes a mature industry in Japan, strong growth in Korea, strong performance in Hong Kong, underserved markets in Taiwan, and a rapidly changing China.

Developing countries, Brazil, Mexico, India, Thailand, the Middle East, and the Southeast Asian growth triangle of Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia all have major theme or amusement park industries.

The U.S. theme park industry is the largest in the world. There are approximately 40 large-scale parks with annual attendance of over 1 million, and some 55 moderate-scale parks with attendance between 500,000 and 1 million. Annual attendance at these attractions totals 160 million persons with revenues over 5 billion $.

But has Sudbury; Ontario or Canada kept pace?

Why not?

The entertainment universe has gone nova. Once comprised of performance attractions, it has expanded to encompass sports, retail, dining, tourism, gaming, recreational activities and hybrids of all of these.

The nature of an attraction can be nearly anything. It can be as small as a shop or as large as a theme park. It can sell you, feed you, please you, thrill you or give you a chance to win. No matter what it does, the guest is the customer that gives it a reason to exist in the first place.

A true tourist destination would also have supporting recreation uses such as high quality hotels, convention and conference facilities, resorts, recreational shopping and dining experiences, and sports activities including golf, tennis, hockey, skiing and water-related activities.

Given that these criteria are part of the theme park tourist destination program, the results can be dramatic and provide a sustaining economic base. Theme parks are also increasingly becoming a symbol and showcase for regional pride, culture, and technological achievement, however, a theme park’s prime objective is entertainment.

New attractions are being designed to provide greater participant control and encourage interplay between the visitor and his environment. New thrill rides are being offered where the rider can individually control the experience and intensity of the ride. Future thematic concepts will be based more on participative activities that relate to the audience rather than just comic book characterizations.

The best way to have an edge is to live on one, thus it's time to think outside the square and dare to be different. A special event can be held anywhere, but a truly extraordinary event is only possible at an extraordinary location; and Sudbury needs become that location. Therefore, it's time to ride the wave of "Growthmania" and kick start our heart with some of the tallest, fastest and sickest vertical amusement thrill rides in the world by turning empty space into a happening place.

The principal economic benefits of tourism come when overnight stays are generated. Day visitors or tourists who stay with friends and relatives generate only 20% of the economic impact of tourists staying in hotels and motels ($50 versus $250 per day).

Thus, in designing a theme park for tourism, a multiple attraction destination with experiences that can occupy two or three days is more likely to have the desired impact. Leapfrogging the tourism pack will provide us a competitive edge to safe crack our future while giving Sudbury more eye appeal to increase our city's Kodak flashbulb moments.

Once a host of unique “must see” celebration stations are built, Sudbury would have multiple offerings and become a cutting edge tourist destination for every man, woman and child, for which the federal government supplies foreign tourist advertising money.

Investments in the thrill hardware must be combined with a high level of service from the “hosts and hostesses” so that a unique local culture and friendly human contact is balanced to the high technology.

Once a customer always a friend, and worldly visitors would arrive and return to the scene of our dream if we act local, think global, make them feel super great once they arrive, and show them that we spared no expense to delight them; for a happy tourist makes a great city "brand evangelist" when they return home with infectious chatter about our city.

Word of mouth advertising is the best advertising an attraction can have if it is positive. Like the "Guest Experience," word of mouth will happen on its own and the only way it can become positive is if of the attraction satisfies, delights, respects and enhances the guest's time spent with it.

In other words, it's the Guest, the whole Guest and nothing but the Guest. And unless the operation of a video camera is going to get in the way of safety allowing people to video tape inside our attractions is good word of mouth advertising. It's just a mouth with a lens in it.

Today, good attractions are used while great attractions are loved, thus, our job is to "create an audience" by using "state-of-the-heart" technology to press every emotive button we can to embed a sensation that visitors will want, love, and use time and time again to attain vacation nirvana.

Pyramid Palace

A journey of fantasy, adventure and imagination!

The world is full of mystery and folklore that holds a definite presence of many mythical beasts, creatures, myths and legends. Mythical stories can be found as far back as history has been written. These shape-shifter myths can be found all over the word from Canada to China and Brazil to Switzerland.

There are many ancient tales to scare and amuse the fragile, small and easiest of targets; children. The legend of the werewolf is one of the most ancient and wide spread. The most widely know story of the werewolf would be Little Red Riding Hood. Little Red Riding Hood features a wolf who talks to Little Red Riding Hood and then dresses in grandmas clothing to fool the innocent little girl. Not something any 'ol wolf could do.

The full moon has been linked to werewolves. The full moon business seems to be a license for the dramatic. However it is an interesting notion since the full moon has been associated with creating madness in humans and to be a time during which man and beast have a magical connection.

However, today’s theme parks reek of a bland, safe, homogenized, "white bread" America, and we would not blindly follow the US model, but evolve new forms of attractions where tourism is a more important source of market support. Pyramid Palace would thus be at the other end of the social spectrum, with a whiff of the occult, a flash of danger, and a hint of the erotic.

The Palace would not be directed primarily toward adult audiences. That's just the tip. Our experience economy will cater to the entire dream society and the “E” Ticket white-knuckle thrills and spills would be only one element offered. The other attractions are designed to tap the “baby boomlet” market and entertain children, families, and those who prefer to take their thrills in more manageable doses. Thus, Pyramid Palace would be created in a mythical realm where folklore, childlore, tall tales, ghost stories, legendary myths and creatures come to life for all to enjoy.

Far away in the twilight time,
Of every people, in every clime,
Dragons and griffins and monsters dire,
Born of water and earth and air and fire!

Novelty architecture is a type of architecture in which buildings and structures are given unusual shapes as a novelty, such as a landmark, or simple eccentricity of the owner or architect. Many examples of novelty architecture take the form of buildings that resemble the products sold inside to attract drive-by customers. Others are attractions all by themselves, such as giant animals, fruits, vegetables or replicas of famous buildings.

Another aspect of novelty architecture is sculptures of ordinary items scaled to enormous size. Novelty architecture is also used extensively in amusement parks such as Disneyland to fit their playful and sometimes retro theme.

In architecture, a folly is an extravagant, frivolous or fanciful building, designed more for artistic expression than for practicality. Originally such structures were often dubbed "[name of architect or builder]'s Folly," after the single individual who commissioned or designed the project.

"Folly" is used in the sense of foolishness, fun or light-heartedness. However, very few follies are completely without a practical purpose. Apart from its head turning decorative aspect, Pyramid Palace would become the largest Pyramid in the world where mystery resides along history. The Palace would become a world-class tourist Amusement Theme Park Mall Museum Resort Complex at the epicenter of Magnetic North, and always be in season.

The Palace would become better that all other Pyramids, including the original, because it doesn't have multiple floors of shopping, exhibition space and thrill rides inside, now does it?

The Palace would be a multi-level eco-concentrated Passive Solar Pyramid standing 55 stories tall and boasting the latest in new urban "starchitecture," design, and technology, with 6 million square feet of UV sunray free, bug free, rain free, beach vendor free fun.

This Thrillville would be an updated version of the Garden of Eden and be 3 1/2 to 5 football fields long by 3 1/2 to 5 football fields long; a base footprint of 16 to 25-acres, the equivalent of 16 to 25 football fields. God didn’t dream up this heavenly Palace; I did. But this island of Eden it’s just the way God intended; and if you don’t like it you can go to hell.

The steel structured Palace would be clad in glass which contains a real gold layer, which is great for reflectivity, insulation and longevity. The Palace would be located across from Science North at the Lilly Creek Jim Jerome Sports Complex. We can eliminate some of the swamp or build over part of it and incorporate the swamp into the attraction.

The goal of preserving the wetland will be enhanced with desirable views of the area and the preservation of the scenic resource will lead to a better understanding of the wetland through a conservation easement. The area is also known for being occasionally fogged over, and having the Pyramid rise from the fog would be spook-tacular. An urban legend would be created that the Pyramid is slowly sinking into the swamp.

The Palace would become the 8th Summit of the world and the ultimate four season theme park address. It would reach high into the blue and on some days guests at the top would be above the weather. We would challenge the human Spiderman, Alain Robert, to come to “Ever Ever Land” and climb Mount Pyramid, which would garner international headlines.

Hidden Pyramid images would be incorporated in the design of the rides, fountains, and facades of the buildings and structures and people can try and find them. The entire Palace will be smoke free, handicapped accessible, contain a Nursing Mothers' Room adjacent to our First Aid Room, while strollers, wheelchairs and ECV mobility carts would be available for rent. Gum would not be allowed to be chewed in the Palace to prevent guests from having to pick gum off their shoes.

The Pyramid would have four underground levels called Forbidden City. Level 1 would be 35 feet tall and house underground attractions. Part of level 1 would also contain sub-levels of parking.

Level 2 would contain 3,500 parking spaces and an air-conditioned Pet Motel kennel where, for a fee, park goers can leave their pet in individual enclosures which includes pet feedings sponsored by a pet food company.

A computerized system would automatically calculate the number of parking-bays left and display the number outside the Palace.
From the underground parking lot "wayfinding signage" would clearly and quickly help visitors find their way from where they are to where they want to be; to the elevators that take them to the entrance of the Palace above.

Level 3 & 4 would contain fish farming food for our zoo animals, a series of fly fishing ponds, and herbfields for veggie-nomics; growing organic produce year round under clinically controlled conditions in a hydroponics hygienic lab, pioneered by Laurentian University and Inco in the 1980s.

The cultivation of giant pumpkins and genetically altered tobacco plants whose seeds contain a protein that can be used in the treatment of bone marrow cancer would also be grown. Medical marijuana could also be cultivated. These herbfields would have three grow seasons per year, thus with 2 grow levels and 32 total acres; the Plantation is equivalent to having 96 acres in one grow season! This agri-environmental scheme will become a tourist attraction in itself and Plantation Safaris’ would be offered.

In order to stay current with Mother Nature the Palace operating expenses would be minimal as it would be an environmentally responsible zero-energy building, meaning the amount of energy provided by on-site renewable energy sources is equal to the amount of energy used by the building.

The Palace would be fossil sunlight solar heated while a variety of other methods to harvest lost energy and convert it into zero-emission energy would be employed.

The Palace would have its own underground power plant and produce electricity by repeatedly using some of the 6 million gallons of water in various attractions. The water from the indoor river would drop down a shaft and pass through the power plant then be filtered and pumped back up to be repeated again and again.

The Palace would also house its own electric substation and never fear a power outage since it would be producing its own electricity. More electricity would be possibly provided from our new trash to cash resource recovery eco-park.

A flooring system that incorporates a matrix of hydraulic compression cushions would be used to harvest power from the hustle and bustle of footsteps in high traffic areas. The energy harvested from every footfall pushes fluid through a micro-turbine, generating power that is stored in a super-capacitor and utilized locally.

A Deep Lake Water Cooling system would use the cool energy in cold water to air-condition the Palace, other attractions and the hospital. The system only uses the coldness from the lake water, not the actual water, to provide the alternative to conventional air-conditioning. Rainwater harvesting and green water (grey water) recycling would be used to water plants, gardens and for flushing toilets.

This towering titan would employ other state-of-the-art technology such as micro-turbines to heat and cool the building and the water, air-filtration, maintenance technologies and a security system with facial recognition. All attractions within the tourism district would include 24/7 internal and external security, including bomb-detecting dogs and other sophisticated screening equipment to prevent bomb laden vehicles from entering underground parking facilities.

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Creating a massive social playground oozing with fun will put some bite into every day and night by providing a whole under one roof experience through the large variety of activities available, which would than be added to people's fun planner.

This monster midway would create massive virgin revenue for the city and also fight our local war on boredom. The basic rules in the Pyramid would be: Rule 1: Have Fun. Rule 2: Refer Rule 1.

However, guests would be required to wear appropriate clothing; and gang insignia, clothes with rude, vulgar, offensive language or graphics would not be permitted. Bathing suits would not be allowed outside of the pool area and disruptive or offensive behaviour; even holding places in line would not be tolerated. All facilities are used at own risk and management would reserve the right to limit entry into the Palace &/or to evict, without refund, any person, not abiding by the General Rules, Boarding Notices or Palace Guides.

Theming is believing, and this mega themed Palace would be composed of several mini-theme parks and divided into a full and half day wet park and dry park. The park would be split into three concept themes; Land, Sea and Sky.

This world-aware "Taj Ma-Mall" would then be divided into six international thematic areas consisting of international streets representing the Americas, Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe and Scandinavia, and each area would have its own theme. This theme would be echoed in the shops, the foods and the costumes that the various staff and park characters wear.

Some street backdrops would use painted facades that use forced perspective to give the illusion of depth. Although only 40 feet deep it looks like a mile or more. Each area would offer native cuisine from each land. This gives visitors the opportunity to participate in a unique cultural experience, and each street would provide wondrous new playthings above and below the water line.

The park would follow an “anchor thrill ride per area,” “anchor dark show ride per area,” and an “anchor restaurant per area” formula. The distinction between areas would be glaringly obvious thanks to the striking architecture.

Themed entertainment would be carried out in an extremely sophisticated manner. The greater the level of satisfaction in which the consumer participates, the more likely the consumer to spend on merchandising and refreshments and to take away fond memories is also to increase the likelihood of a return visit.

It is this “theming for the sake of theming” attitude that would raise Pyramid Palace way above most parks, and the Palace would also become the greatest community in Sudbury.

The Palace would lay out the red carpet for digital families and guests from the second they enter it, and, upon entering the Magnetic Gates, a main street boulevard down the centre would come alive with costumed characters welcoming guests with a surge of joyous giddiness and demonic energy.

Walking through the front gate, the clock gives the year as 188_ (whatever the last digit of the current year is). The boulevard would lead to the centre of the Palace and hub of the theme park, the "Friendliest 19th century Mining Ghost Town and Wild West Frontierland in the World, with 21st century one-of-a-kind rides and attractions that mix nostalgia with modern thrills.

From there, the park would incorporate a single, cohesive “story,” and guests would be encouraged to experience each "chapter." Here at the Hub, would also be a large callboard with the approximate wait times, closures and other information about most of the attractions in the park. It would be updated several times throughout the day.

The outer ring tour would take park-goers on a journey from the creation of planet Earth to a futuristic water park "tech-town." While traveling from area to area, visitors pass through various countries where dark, light, wet and dry attractions are located. Guests would spiral around the Palace experiencing each chapter of the story and eventually end up hitting the bull’s eye; the centre of the Pyramid.

Pyramid Palace would become a tourism category killer and theming this city will bring it to life by creating an unreal world that is more powerful than any reality this city has previously produced. On a tourism basis, the city would then resemble Orlando or Los Angles, but one without the traffic, gangs, handguns, shiploads of narcotics, or Mexican and Cuban exiles.

This ultimate roadside attraction would become the largest capital project in this city's history and become the city’s greatest lived happily ever after bedtime business stories of all time. Despite the large investment, theme parks are cash cows and once in place it becomes a turnstile game. Once they are up and running, operating costs are relatively stable and any increase in attendance, ticket prices, or the number of days visitors stay, go directly to the bottom line.

This powerful Pyramid Palace “brand equity” would morph into a permanent Renaissance / World's Fair and would act like a magnet attracting other visitor’s poleward to keep the cash cow in hay. The Palace would also be recession proof since recessions create an enforced vacation. Despite an uncertain US economy, theme park attendance is on the rise across America.

Each corner of the Pyramid would contain an anchor attraction; King Kong Primate Zoo - Dinosaur National Park & Rain Forest - Tropical themed Water Wave Pool Park - Sudbury Seaquarium, and early birds and night owls would enjoy a constant and delightful tropical 28ºC (82.4ºF) temperature 365.25 days each year in the world's largest Atrium.

Dino's Rain forest & Dismal Swamp

In one corner would be Dino World, a tropical climate controlled Amazon rain forest in a dismal swamp. Dino World would offer the world's ultimate theme ride back into the mists of the Jurassic era. Visitors would enter through a cave which would take guests back 100 million years when creatures were at their scary best.

Guests would step back in time to when our Earth was young and feel their heart race as they travel through a Jurassic landscape and come face to face with giant roaring audio-animatrronic-controlled dinosaurs and prehistoric crocodiles in Dinosaur National Park.

This ride would transport you into an age where earth-shattering events impacted the world. The evolving shape of our planet will come alive right before your eyes as visitors would experience the birth of the planet, with cosmic events like comet strikes, the meteorite strike that hit Sudbury, the tearing away of the moon from the earth, volcanoes, the moving of tectonic plates, and the formation of the mountains and the seas; along with the rise and fall of the dinosaurs.

Dino world would also contain an Insectarium bug and butterfly zoo consisting of bugs and butterflies of the world, along with a giant beehive with a see through panel and entrance tube. Honey making is big business and if we make honey we'll make more money. Visitors could walk through an indoor cloud and experience a foggy thunderstorm with rain and lightening.

Guests can dig for dinosaur bones and eggs in a simulated dig site, view footprint casts and prehistoric fossils and actual life size dinosaur skeletons. Interactive international traveling exhibits would depict the history of dinosaurs, bugs, bees, butterflies and rainforests. Escape from Dino Island allows guests to partake in the action as dinosaurs take over.

The swamp center would house Wonders of the Wetlands and feature a southern Cypress swamp with two real crocodiles. Dioramas, charts, animated exhibits and the video "A Swamp Ecosystem" would explain a swamps evolution, including our own wetland right beside the Pyramid.

The ever changing sounds of the rainforest are present during the day, starting with the birds' morning concerto, right down to the voices of animals being active at night. After dark, the jungle would turn into a mini Amazonia "night safari". Hidden paths, orchids and climbing plants, little bridges over mangrove swamps, a waterfall into the lagoon, and, to top it all off, guests would discover a fine Good Year Blimp eye panoramic view of Palace.

Guests could also grab their prime-mates and swing by for some tree time at our Go Ape sky park. Thoughts of Godzilla and King Kong would race up the spinal bean stock as this high wire forest jungle adventure would offer a course of rope bridges, rope ladders, Tarzan swings, trapezes and stirrup crossings that allow visitors to experience the thrills of trekking from tree to tree, 40 feet above the forest floor! Twin fan descenders allow guests to clip on, jump and freefall most of the way until the fan slows you to a gentle landing 40 feet below! This Tarzan economic park would provide the city cash from one vine to another while being enjoyed by a whole family.

Shamu Who?

The Sudbury Seaquarium would occupy the second corner and this educational Oceanarium will contain a 1.5 million-gallon salt-water shark tank exhibit with an underwater reef tunnel glide path. Visitors would enter under a waterfall representing a full submersion into the ocean. Guests can view sharks, stingrays, sea turtles and exotic sea life and tropical fish above them and in front of them as they glide through the tunnel. Guests can buy food and feed the fish, while amphibious actors entertain visitors. Undersea biology experts would enter the seabase to talk to visitors and answer questions.

For an additional fee guests can Scuba Dive with the fish in our underwater theme park and visit an undersea statue, and journey through the heart of a volcano, Mount Marsili, while non-scuba divers can go on a "Seafari" by taking a ride to see these sea scaries up close and personal on the most extraordinary submarine in all the Seven Seas; Bob, the Yellow Submarine!

Guests could also go on a “Sea Trek” by donning a hi tech diving helmet with surface supplied air and walk along the sea bed floor, or sip co<ktails while exploring the lagoon aboard our three person sub.

The Canadian Estuarium would depict the water shed, eco systems, describe the effects of salt water meeting fresh water, as well as explaining life on the oceans and waterways of the world and the evolution of the sea and humans interaction with it.

An Australian adventure would reveal a 10,000-gallon Great Barrier coral reef with a submerged shipwrecked dome that changes colours. Feed and touch tanks would be available and visitors can control an Aquabatics Fountain, a 30-foot interactive water sculpture that demonstrates buoyancy and hydraulic principles.

An interpretative center would depict the life cycles of sharks and allow visitors to dock an oil tanker, board a submarine, and touch an iceberg while learning the history of the Titanic. The Living Coast would be a recreation of the western coast of Chili and Peru and provide an underwater journey from ocean to shore. A Deep Ocean Safari will take guests on a virtual underwater journey that allows riders to visit various depths of the ocean in a submersible-themed motion base.

Primate Zoo

A King(Kong)dom of the Apes Great EscApe Primate Zoo-mazium would occupy the third corner with Gorilla Valley, Orangutan Gorge &/or Chimpanzee Ridge. The world's most intelligent mammals are (a) humans (b) chimpanzees (c) gorillas, and (d) orangutans; noted for its use of tools; and its name means man of the woods.

A pathway overlooking pools and waterfalls allow visitors to view animals coexisting amid 50-foot tall trees. Rainstorms occur in each exhibit though the animals are the only ones who get wet. For a fee, guests could take a "Zoofari" Bus Ride (electric golf car that seats 4) through the exhibit that shows the scary hairy beasties roaming in their natural habitat up close and personal.

A walk though Reptile World Herpetarium would house the world's most exotic and rare deadly snakes, lizards and other reptiles, while our free flight Terrarium would contain colourful free flying birds from around the world in cage-less enclosures that simulate their natural habitats.

Interactive participatory exhibits would depict the evolution of apes, birds and reptiles while "Quest to Save the Earth" is an adventure game encouraging environmentally friendly behaivours.

Guests could also ride Wild Earth African Plains. This 2 seat simulator takes visitors on an interactive, virtual reality ride through the African plains to photograph wildlife. One rider drives wherever they want to go; the other photographs with a handheld digital camera and, after the ride, a custom news article can be printed detailing their trip and includes the photos taken which are ready for purchase as they exit the attraction.

The zoo would also provide “webertainment.” Guests can buy snacks for their net pet, electronic pets at our zoo. They can play with them online and if they don't buy food and feed them they die. Armchair cyber tourists would have access to live satellite links to the Serengeti, the Amazon and a Corral Reef.

Our zoo will also run a Human Zoo exhibit, which consist of a group of people who, as part of a study exercise, apply to be housed in an ape enclosure by day, but who return home by night. The inhabitants would take part in several exercises, much to the amusement of onlookers, who are asked for donations towards feeding our "real" apes.

A freak show is an exhibition of rarities, "freaks of nature," such as unusually tall or short humans, and performances that are expected to be shocking to the viewers. Freak shows were popular in around 1840 and we’ll host a few for shock value. A freak show currently traveling with born living human oddities and medical anomalies is the 999 Eyes of Endless Dream Carnival Museum & Sideshow.

The zoo would also showcase visiting animals from other zoos to keep us fresh. We could invite Jungle Jack Hanna from the Columbus Zoo, Julie Scardina from Sea World, and Jane Goodall. Jack Hanna's "Into The Wild" is a educational, unscripted reality TV series that is nationally syndicated. Julie journies the globe on behalf of the SeaWorld, Busch Gardens, and Discovery Cove adventure parks. Wow Factor; 10/10.

A Wave New World

Noah's Ark Water World Park would occupy the fourth corner and offers several ways to make a splash. This world is no ordinary water park - it's a water ride park, and this “waterfest” would be the wettest wildest waterboggan adventure you’ve ever experienced.

There would be 3 wave pools in total and two wave riding machines. The pools would accommodate all levels of swimmers and wave-riding enthusiasts from first-timers to world champions, all spitting out a series of cool crests for the thrill of riding waves. This "wavescape" would cop plenty of "swell exposure" for our "Mother City" and allow us to guarantee swells as good as any offshore location.

Inco is now owned by a Brazilian based company, CVRD, and guests would be greeted by a Brazilian style zero depth entry "Copacabana" beach with tonnes of of pure white sand and a paradise of eternal summer. This ropical themed Lost Lagoon adult cove beach would be sandtastic! Copacabana is a borough located in the city Rio de Janeiro; famous for its 4 km beach.

The salt-free continuous motion ocean action wave pool would offer a wealth of fun and excitement for swimmers of all age along Copacabana beach in several wave bays. One end has four basketball hoops where people engage in friendly games of water ball. Water basketball is a water sport which mixes rules of basketball and water polo. The other end is for general swimming or swirling around in the gigantic wave pool. It is also the beginning point and the ending point of the lazy river, described later in this narrative.

The pool and pool area would offer a sip and dip bar, water trampolines, air lounger, hot tubs, aqua massages, hammocks, lounge chairs, sand volley ball courts, horseshoe pits, locker room, coin operated showers, suntan bed rooms and a Brazilian waxing salon offering the “Natural,” the “Playboy,” (also known as a “landing strip”) the pure “Bare-All Brazilian,” and the “Made-to-Order.”

This area would also house a Bossaball court, the only one in Canada. Bossaball is like a combination of beach volleyball and competitive trampolining, with a live South American soundtrack thrown in. It's played on a specially designed inflatable court that features a round trampoline on each side of an adjustable volleyball-style net. The height of a bossaball net can be adjusted to make it suitable for children, adults or professionals.

The entire court and surrounding area are heavily padded for safety and the trampolines are circled by a big red barrier called the bossawall. Music plays an important part in bossaball. Bossa nova and samba are different styles of Brazilian music and bossaball officials are known as samba referees. "Com bossa" means "with gusto" in Brazil and bossaball referees expend almost as much energy as the players. As well as blowing the whistle, groups of samba refs provide the backing track for each game with a combination of musical instruments that can include microphones, drums and turntables.

Bossaball is played between two teams of either 3, 4 or 5 people. Each team is allowed up to eight touches before returning the ball. And players are allowed to use their hands, feet or head. Really bossaball is all about timing. The high number of touches is used to try and set up a spiker bouncing high on the trampoline for a big smash. If a team allows the ball to be grounded on the trampoline they give up three points. Anywhere else on the court is worth one point. But if the ball bounces off the bossawall it is still in play and the rally goes on. The first team to 30 points wins the set.

Canadian made Pro Slides would range from a leisurely family slide to a high-speed power slide reaching speeds of 105 km/h! A 10 story tall Power Tower interactive water Tiki tree house that any band of shipwrecked voyagers would envy would offer inner tube chutes, black tunnel body slides, Tornado multicolored funnel bowl slide that pours riders into a 60 foot wide giant bowl where you spin in circles to a splash landing, a 72 foot tall uphill aqua speedway water coaster that plunges into Typhoon tunnel, diving platforms, and a 1,200 gallon bucket would constantly fill with water, tipping periodically to create a 4 story waterfall. The tipping bucket would alternate between dumping its torrent of water onto guests standing in front of the Tiki Tree House and onto unsuspecting riders in the Tornado bowl.

High Dive Theater which features daily high dive shows, each ending with a high dive from 80 feet up into 10 feet of water. The "Waveyard" would be lined with fiber optic lights for night dives. Guests could also catapult into the pool from a 10 story high zip line while a beachside bash can be held on the entertainment stage.

This “waterscape” would offer guests amazing experiences, and because of its special visual effect technologies, the rides would never be exactly the same experience twice. Once guests are situated in a "Water Bobsleigh" inner tube "Quick Rider," they are propelled along by water escalators, waves, water surges and master blaster technology.

Unlike traditional water slides that require guests to leave the water and climb back to the top, guests here never have to leave the water as they are carried to the headwaters of the master blaster Power Tower and propelled all the way back up to the top of the slide tower via water conveyors. It's both an attraction and a transportation system, and once at the top, you better hang on for the ride of your life.

On The Serpent, riders plung down a tube in the dark center of the Power Tower straight towards a brick wall or a rotating fan. This illusion is created by state-of-the-art water curtain video technology that will project images into the middle of the slide.

The Abyss is a 200 foot long body slide with a near vertical drop of over 50 feet and an overall 14 second ride in total darkness. Exiting through a rolling waterfall, riders plunge into a pre-historic sea creature lair. And it's not over yet, because blocking the escape route are fierce alligator gars, very much alive and very frightening. But don't worry, this exhilarating plunge into the abyss is only an illusion created by clear acrylic panels that extend below the Abyss Lagoon's surface.

The Leap of Faith water slide begins with an 80 foot almost vertical drop. At the bottom, sliders pass through a clear tunnel submerged in a shark-filled lagoon on one side and crocodiles on the other! But this time, they're all real!

Guests who really want to let the adrenaline flow could climb to the very top of the tree house tower and try the highest water slide in the world. The Insanity Slide would clock in at 170 feet. Its height is equivalent to a 17 story building, and 3 feet higher than Niagara Falls.

Due to its height and slope, this body slide would provide an extremely rapid descent, taking only 5 seconds at a speed of 105 km/h. Because of these characteristics, the slide would be considered the most extreme piece of sliding equipment on the planet. There is only one position for going down this slide, feet first. Screaming will not save you this time, and there is no use opening your eyes!

Guest could Bungee jump from 17 stories up as well. Guests can chest and waist, ankle and waist, tandem, or even wheelchair bungee. For an additional fee guests can be winched back up to the top after their jump, which provides another ride as you are getting hoisted back up. Visitors could also revesre Bungee in a ball by being strapped in and catapulted up while spinning 360 degrees and going 150 feet in 1.2 seconds!

The Big Surf salt-free Whitewater Wave Pool is capable of recreating Mother Earth’s top 40 surfing spots. With a click of a keyboard, and its pre-programmed bottom contours, the pool mimics some of the best natural overhead surf breaks in the world and produces tubular crests that allow hotdoggers to demonstrate their skills. The computer adjustable pool floor allows nearly infinite variety of left and right-breaking wave shapes and generates up to six waves per minute with wave heights from 5 to 10 feet, and ride lengths from 60 to 100 yards.

The surf park would generate 4 types of wave. Hawaiian, Indonesian, Californian and Australian, named after the places in which they are typically found. Surfing beginners can start off with the Californian, which is a slower, easier wave and can work their way up to the Hawaiian.

Aspiring surfers and body boarders would also enjoy tailor-made professionally staffed Surf School clinic lessons, while “surforecast” wave cams would allow the world to tune in and watch our “surfvivors” catch a wave. Teams of professional surfers, skim and boogie boarders would teach guests the "Surfology" and "Surfer Etiquette" and provide entertainment as they ride the waves and point out the perfect points for catching these curls.

There would be two wave machines. The smaller, gentler Flow Rider is more suitable for children and used for body and boogie-board surfing. The flow rider is 3 inches deep and the pool surface is foam-padded. The wave machine that creates the super-high capacity whirling 10 foot overhead giant barrel wave is called Bruticus Maximus. Board surfing this artificial wave is a hydrodynamic joy ride; a chlorine dream come true. Bodyboards can be rented for 4 $ an hour, surfboards 7 $ an hour.

Next to the main wave pool would be a smaller pool for children that have floating cross-sections of logs attached to the floor of the pool like Lillie pads. Suspended above the pool is a large cargo net for kids to hold onto as they leap frog from one floating log to another.

This little lagoon kiddie cove beach and squirt factory would also include smaller slides, tipping mine buckets, a bumper boat ride, water "sprayground" with an interactive play structure and tons of hoses, spray devices, water cannons and toboggan fun. The gallons of water park fun would be baby and toddler-friendly, with baby changing facilities, baby seats, baby feeding room, and disposable swim diapers can be purchased.

All pool water would maintain an 82 degree temperature and be staffed by certified lifeguards. The water park would provide free life-vests for children. Guests would be permitted to bring their own life-preserver as long as it is a Coast Guard approved flotation devise. The water park also provides clean towels for a fee.

Out of the water, a fully-stocked surf shop would offer up all the summer time goodies required to ensure guests enjoy the newest and greatest playground on Earth.

Guests could also enjoy the Palace’s exhilarating rafting trip down a rugged Raging River. The Water Crash ride is rated Class 5, but there is no real danger despite scary sounding chutes like Shark’s Tooth, Devil’s Staircase and Satan’s Plunge. The rapids aren’t real, and neither are the spills, for this is all simulated. There’s no river. However, the raft shakes and spins and water splashes over the crowd, in 5 wet and wild minutes of virtual reality rafting.

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[Max]

Along the back side of the long sand Copacabana beach would be a flame spitting volcano; Mount Kilimanjaro. Every 15 minutes, the volcano smokes to life with a thundering boom. Every hour, on the hour, it spews fake flames and throws molten fountains into the air. Like seismic chimes, these eruptions sound a surf’s up. The inside of the volcano is open for viewing and leads all who dare enter into the Dragon Sanctuary, where a skeletal creature is enshrined in light amid spooky music.

After dark the lights would be lowered, the pools romantically illuminated, a water screen used to create mysterious lighting effects, and laser lights would sweep across the artificial man-made lakes. The lightshow is centred on the erupting volcano which spews red lava by night.

Guests can also catch the hottest latest-movie release while floating on a tube in the Wave Pool or lounging on a deckchair. Dive 'n' Movies would provide the most amazing cinema experience with a giant 45 x 30 foot screen and an awesome surround sound system.

Guests can switch off from the worries of everyday life and recharge their energy levels while watching the palm trees sway in the gentle breeze while the chirping of birds is filtered through a sound system and echoes in the air. Natural sunshine entering the sloped Pyramid glass faced roof over the “surfbana” beach would allow sunsmart guests to gain a healthy suntan during the summer or winter. If possible, a sliding mechanism would allow part of the sloped Pyramid glass faced roof to be opened or closed at the flick of a switch.

How wild would it be to careen along in bikini-clad comfort catching a wave with a cloudless sky overhead, not a bee, sand fly or mosquito to be found while viewing a blizzard outside?

This "watercade" would make a bigger splash than anything else in Canada and ensure the next world-class wave would be our backyard beach break. Surfs up!

However, indoors, water creates two sizeable problems. The first is weight. The second problem is that large quantities of indoor water generate equally large quantities of humidity that steam up windows and strain air conditioning systems. However, the Palace would be structurally designed for the weight and our "airshed management" would easily deal with the humidity, just like the West Edmonton Mall does.

Stay dry or get wet, it's up to you, but one thing's for sure; having fun in Sudbury would never be so much fun! A Wave New World indeed! Wow Factor; 10/10.

Slopetropolis

To increase our coolness factor a year round indoor Ski Hall would be included in the Palace. With amazing new technologies, imaginative theming, such as a day of skiing, snowboarding, skating, or simply playing in the snow in the summer is not a fantasy anymore.

Within the centre of the 16 acres 55 story tall Palace would be a mountain with a 8 acre footprint and reaching 50 stories tall. The mountain would begin 3 stories off the floor to allow the floor space to be utilized as a "playscape."

A glacier would reach the floor on one side. The glacier would contain Carnivore Canyons. Trees would grace the base of the mountain, and by planting trees of varying heights and different leaf sizes at higher altitudes, a forced perspective technique is used to create an optical illusion to augment the mountain's height.

Falconbridge Mines are now owned by a Switzerland based company; Xstrada. The Matterhorn is the tallest "free standing" mountain (whatever that is) in Europe. It is Switzerland's most famous landmark, the most beautiful mountain in the world and considered by many true mountaineers to be the peak of all peaks.

The Palace has four faces; and so does the Matterhorn, facing the four compass points. The faces are steep, and only small patches of snow and ice cling to them. Thus, we must emphasize the fact that the "Horn" is one of the most difficult classic climbs in the Alps; an AD Difficulty rating, but not hard for skilled mountaineers. There would be fixed ropes on four different routes of our Matterhorn to help out would-be mountaineers climb this beast.

The Klein Matterhorn is Europe's highest ski lift. On your arrival on the KM, and upon leaving the cable car, visitors will emerge into a magnificent mountain world. Once they catch their breath, literally and metaphorically speaking, guests could can step into their skis or board and set out on a journey that would be available regardless of the time of year.

This "Gravity Park" will take the city vertical and allow everyone to relax and enjoy the snow beach at their leisure. Guests might even have a run in with a legendary monster; for our Matterhorn would become home to an elusive Great Ape; "The Wild Man of the Snows;" just one of the secrets Mother E’s newest mountain has to offer. The Great Ape was housed in our Prime mate zoo but has escaped and is hiding out somewhere on Mount Matterhorn.

A tour of the Great Ape museum would put hair on your chest, as the displays present information to corroborate the existence of the mythical beast. The museum would offer evidence of the importance that the beast plays in art and culture as well as the reverence and fear that he inspires.

The World of Ice exhibit would depict what a glacier is and how it work. Glaciology deals with the physical and chemical characteristics of ice on the landmasses; the formation and distribution of glaciers and ice caps; the dynamics of the movement of glacier ice; and interactions of ice accumulation with climate, both in the present and in the past. Cryology is the science of the physical aspects of snow, ice, hail, and sleet and other forms of water produced by temperatures below Zero degrees Celsius.

Long drawn out howling and snuffling would turn heads horizonwards. Howling winds would often be heard even at the base of the mountain outside of the ski hall. Eerie shadows would occasionally appear on various mountain cliff walls, while a huge Great Ape mural would be etched into a rock face of one wall. On opening day, a 20 million $ reward would be offered for its capture; dead or alive.

The interior of this themed ski resort environment would replicate the picturesque Swiss village of Zermatt, complete with a full size church steeple. Unique sound and lighting systems would control the passing of time within the complex, creating the illusion of an early morning awakening of a ski village, gradually lighting up snow-topped mountains while church bells echo and a mule drawn sleigh delivers supplies to the restaurants.

In the same way the sky will darken for the evening, with fake smoke trailing from chimney tops and chalets aglow from within. Outside the hill the mountain would have dramatic lighting cast upon it during the evening hours.

A ski-hall would provide “wintertainment” year round in a realistic alpine setting on this artificial mountain created to emphasize the "Arctic / Antarctic Experience" effect. It would be the only one in Canada and only the 3rd in North America, as two other indoor ski halls are in the building phase right now.

"Slopetropolis" would welcome guests to the greatest snow on earth and feature several runs of varying lengths and experiences. The main slope is a straight downhill run built for maximum speed and thrills. Other scenic tree-lined runs feature winding paths, moguls, superpipe, halfpipe, kikkers, jumps and rails; hills to offer every type of skier and boarder a satisfying adventure. A toboggan run, bobsled run, bunny run, and “downhill skating” run would introduce the sports to beginners.

A snow escalator would provide tobogganers access to the top of the bunny hill, while a cable car gondola lift (the KM) and one travelator would provide visitors a relaxed ascent to the mountain top station. A Travelator system (elevated “slidewalk”) convey the most patrons in the shortest time. The conventional ski lift system conveys too little patrons too slowly which limits revenue on the slope.

Boarding the gondola would cost users more, but quick to board with the new chip-cards, which means that you can pass straight through onto the gondola without having to fumble around for your ski pass.

Coolies could now chill out in this unique atmosphere where a snow cavern filled with interactive experiences and amazing sights and sounds would be offered. Children and parents alike can enjoy building a snowman and playing on the hills. Skijorning (Husky sledging) is a fantastic way to spend a half day out relaxing in the snowfields and would keep local huskies active in the summer.

If your dream is to say “I do” among snowflakes and pines, in a cable car, wearing skis, snowshoes or even cross-country skis in your own winter wonderland, we would arrange the whole event from accommodation to flowers, and provide a dog sled or mule drawn sleigh for those couples who aren’t so keen on wearing skis with a bridal gown and evening suit.

The church steeple would also be utilized for abseiling. Rappelling (also known as Rap jumping) is the process of descending a fixed rope in a standing position while facing the ground. The technique is akin to walking down a cliff, face first. Rap Jumping is a highly advanced form of freestyle rope work and the method we would use is a forward freefall rappel.

A 8 story tall replica of the Trango Towers would also be constructed. The Tango Towers are a group of dramatic granite spires located on the north side of the Baltoro Glacier, in Baltistan, a district of the Northern Areas of Pakistan. The Towers offer some of the largest cliffs and most challenging rock climbing in the world. The east face of the Great Trango Tower features the world's greatest nearly vertical drop and one side would be frozen over with a glistening wall of sheer ice so guests could also enjoy hours of ice climbing in our “skibana.”

There would also a themed restaurant and bar with panoramic views onto the snowhall, while platforms throughout the park will offer ample opportunities for spectator viewing. Snowcams would provide 24/7 online viewing while snow rangers would patrol the hills and ensure everyone's safety.

The history of alpinism, the job of the mountain guide, alpine mountain rescue services, and skiing, are all closely associated with the Matterhorn. The people of Zermatt honour this natural monument with a monument of its own: The exciting history of the "Horu," as the people of Zermatt call the peak, is told in the Matterhorn Museum, and we'd tell the history of it as well in our Museum.

The Powder Room Pro Snow Shop would stock a wide range of the latest and greatest climbing, mountainerring and canyoning gear, skis, boards, boots, bindings, clothing, eyewear, stickers, waxes and accessories.

The Mountain High Rookie Academy would provide Mountain expertise 365 days a year. Ski, snowboard, canyoning, mountainerring, boulding, climbing and rappelling training programs would be offered and give guests the chance to meet new like minded friends along the way. Our Powder Trip winter freestyle camps would combine luxury accommodations with 24/7 skiing, boarding, bob sledding, canyoning, mountaineering, boulding, climbing and rappelling in a uniquely fun atmosphere.

A Penguinarium, "Great White Polar Bear" Zoo, winter aquaria, snow castle, Arctic animal statues, ice-bridges, ice grotto's, snow mazes and snow caves would be included, while an ice skating canal would take skaters on a continuous loop.

With its roots embedded deep within go-karting, ice karting is the latest craze to hit the ice. Ice Karting is fast and furious with your driving skills being tested to their limits. Through the introduction of studded tires, Ice Karting requires very different driving skills. It is an activity where technique wins over outright speed. Our events would offer exciting endurance racing for all ages, and there is no better incentive than racing your colleagues, bosses or friends. On certain days, guests would have exclusive use of the ice canal and a DJ will provide commentary.

Visitors could also enjoy "Canyoning" and "Bouldering" on the outside of the mountain on the glacier. If canyoneering took no special skills, it would be called "hiking in canyons," however; there are several categories of skills involved in canyoneering.

"Mountaineering" is the sport, hobby or profession of walking, hiking, trekking and climbing up mountains. It is also sometimes known as alpinism, particularly in Europe. Guests could hike our mini-Matterhorn mountain without fear of falling rocks or avalanches. The avalanche is the most underestimated danger in the mountains.

"Via Ferrata" was commonly used during the wars to provide a quick and easy way for the movement of troops over the mountains. Now ladder routes are being put up on vertical faces all over the alps. Via Ferrata is Italian for "Iron Way" and with your guide you'll discover the hundreds of iron ladder ascents & descents. Guests would be fixed at all times to a heavy gauge steel wire and everything is drilled & glued into the rock for maximum safety.

The possibility of lying on the beach at lunchtime and then being on the slopes or on an Arctic safari within 15 minutes would simply prove too strong to resist. Wow factor; 10/10.

Friendliest Ghost Town in the World

The very center of the Pyramid would contain the "Friendliest Mining Ghost Town in the World." A 19th century haunted moat-like Nickel City Mining Town and Wild West Frontierland with a 21st century theme park. The park would consist of one of a kind rides and attractions that mix nostalgia with modern thrills and where people from all walks of life are immersed in the urban streets, sounds and smells of the 19th century.

This centrepiece of the park not only separates the themed areas but it also acts as a hub from which guests can easily access all of the other theme port areas. The area would replicate Sudbury, Dawson City Yukon, Virginia City Nevada, Tombstone Arizona, Dodge City Kansas, and an Indian Village in the 1800s.

A replica Cartwright family Ponderosa Ranch from the TV show Bonanza, a Little House on the Prairie log cabin, an OK Corral would be constructed, and an infamous Boot Hill Cemetery Graveyard Golf Mini Putt would contain the headstones of legendary gun-slinging outlaw society characters from the gilded Old Wild West Age.

Wyatt Earp, Virgil Earp, Morgan Earp, Billy Claiborne, Frank McLaury, Tom McLaury, Billy Clanton, Ike Clanton, Doc Holliday, Calamity Jane, Billy the Kid, Wild Bill Hickok, Charlie Utter, Jesse James and the James-Younger Gang, Butch Cassidy, Harvey "Kid Curry" Logan, Elzy Lay, Ben Kilpatrick, Harry Tracy, Will "News" Carver, Laura Bullion, and George Curry, who, together with others, formed a gang known as the Wild Bunch.

Guests can take a walk on the wild side and go back to the old frontier of cowboys and Indians, as they stroll along the streets of the Wild Wild West. Dioramas would skillfully tell the story of their crimes or crime fighting skills and depict how and where they died.

Jesse James carried out the first daylight bank robbery in peacetime, stealing over 1,000,000 $ in today's money from a bank in Liberty Missouri, and some park goers would also have to "Put Your Hand Up" in this "Wickedest Little City in Canada," as staged gun fights, bank, train and stage coach robberies would occur in our Frontierland by characters dressed in period clothing.

A rustic Indian Village on the shores of the draining river would represent many tribes and the Native lifeways. The Indian Village would present the culture, customs, and arts of Native Canada. Guests could look inside tepees to see how the Plains Indians lived, view totem poles, discover how birch bark canoes were made, and meet a full-blooded Indian Chief.

Guests could watch colorful performances at the Ceremonial Dance Circle and gain a greater appreciation for Native traditions as you watch authentic tribal dances. Patrons could buy authentic Native crafts, clothing and toys at the Indian Trading Post. Vistors could grab an oar and climb aboard one of the canoes at the water’s edge and go for a ride where they provide the propulsion. Forts, old wooden settler’s cabins with stone chimneys, and Conestoga Wagons would be included.

To open our arms to the white knuckle adrenaline-junkie generation, seven major metal monster white-knuckle, hair-raising, spine-tingling, knee-knocking scream machines with bad attitudes would rule our theme park. The roller coasters would also produce electricity from the passing train cars.

Steel coasters provide a smaller footprint than woodies, and all guests need are nerves of steel to ride them, but the absolute terror these motioneering beasties provide never felt so good. The parts of the Palace that house elevated roller coaster track would be "naturescaped" to prevent guests from wandering under the track areas. Youngsters must be 44 inches tall to ride our rides. That height is checked by having the child stand against a giant Great Ape footprint.

Six dark rides and numerous family and kiddie flat rides and carnival games would also be offered. Five other fearsome beasts and nerve-wracking drop, spin and speed-driven vertical G-forced rides would be located in other attractions, as described later in this narrative.

Dumping guests into the cheapest-looking exit is no way to be thankful that a guest spent time and money with us, thus all rides would exit into a cleverly designed themed gift shop that display an amusing thank you sign and allows guests to buy souvenirs and on-ride photos of themselves.

Hoping to make illicit use of the on-ride photographs that other parks later sells to ride patrons; some riders briefly expose themselves (e.g., a woman's breasts) during a particular descent. Collected on the website "Flash Mountain" in the mid to late 1990s, the shots continue to circulate. However, the Palace would not sell any such photos to patrons and those who do expose themselves would be criminally charged, removed from the property, and forever barred from entering again.

Video Captioning would be available on selected monitors in some attractions while assistive Listening Receivers, which amplify the audio, would also be offered. There would be several security cameras in our rides, and for safety reasons, if someone steps out of their seat, an alarm will go off, and the ride will be stopped.

All of our rides would incorporate show stories and many would have guest interaction. This is revealed to guests as they wait in line and suddenly become active participants in the narrative before experiencing the ride itself. The queue begins with pre-recorded audio tracks that are played at intervals giving safety instructions to riders. By design, rarely would there be a point where guests could see how long the line is ahead of them, and by creating thematically related story distractions within the queue, riders never get bored of waiting for the ride.

Guests then view a pre-ride film introduce of the characters and are supplied the whole back story of the ride to familiarize patrons with the environment they are about to enter. While the pre-show film makes patrons prepared to enter the attractions world, there is no way they will be able to take in everything that awaits them on the ride. This is intentional. The attractions are so rich that patrons would have to ride it multiple times to get the full experience, thus there would be lots of re-rides.

Following the typical one-minute-30-second pre-show, guests board the ride for their mesmerizing journey. As guests make it to the top of the loading platforms, they are grouped into parties of four. The load stations would have separate load and unload stopping points to prevent slowing things down by unloading and loading in the same spot.

All of our rides would have a track switch at the loading platform that allows operators to take a boat off the main circuit so passengers with disabilities can board and debark taking as much time as they need. However, all patrons are expected to board rides independently. If assistance is needed, a companion must accompany the rider.

The queues would also have a single-rider line to ensure trains are always filled to capacity, and a test seat would also be available before you queue any ride to ensure riders fit safely. When the queue is packed, ride ops may not give guests the choice of seats, but they would do so whenever possible.

Nickel City Mine (NCM) would be the anchor and signature ride within Pyramid Palace and truly outclass every other full circuit roller coaster in the world. The pulse-pounding ride will take the city vertical as we coast into the future with integrated theming, 3-D visuals, pyrotechnic and other special effects to push the envelope of theme park technology.

The moat like mine would be surrounded by a small lake and flowing Klond!ke Creek, where bubbling hot springs can be viewed, a vertically-mounted undershot water wheel standing 42 feet high would operate to extract power from the flow of water, and a Geyser erupts like clockwork every 15 minutes shooting water 334 feet in the air; twice the height of Niagara Falls. Uh-oh, there she blows! The lake would also be in the shape of the Bermuda triangle, yup, another hidden Pyramid.

Mineral Hall would become home to our city's annual Mineral and Gem show. Within this stone zone darkened rooms would allow the rocks to glow in mysterious colours through the magic of black lights.

Guests who have gold fever and who want to experience life as a Klond!ke pioneer could Pan or sluice for gold; real gold, in the modern gold bearing creek of this historic mining country that dates back to Gold Rush days. We cannot guarantee guests would find gold in our gold reef field, but our Yukoners would show guests how, and all the gold they find is theirs to keep!

Nickel City Mine would be a world wide roller coaster record breaker; the highest, longest, steepest, deepest, and fastest roller coaster in the world. No hula girls or board wax here, just 10 nail-biting minutes of sheer terror. Those who believe altitude is best viewed from inside of an airplane window will find it every bit as terrifying as it looks. In the annals of theme park attractions it would be the designation of "est", as in highEST, fastEST, steepEST, longEST, deepEST, wildEST, scariEST and insanEST.

The term Strata-coaster applies to roller coasters 400 feet or taller. Since this coaster is over 500 feet, a new name would be created. As riders are coming down from the first drop, riders experience four times the Earth's normal G force, which makes breathing next to impossible.

Staying in the lead of the "rides race" gets real expensive and this coaster hits the mother lode by raising its own bar to ensure we win the coaster arms race. This custom made coaster is more than scheme deep, as it moves "at the speed of fright" and would separate the mice from the men while providing a totally unique experience that does not exist elsewhere in the coaster world, making it the world’s favourite love hate coaster.

Nickel City Runaway Mine Coaster

Nickel City Mine would be themed as a long-abandoned nickel mine with an eerie past. It would utilize a state-of-the-art show experience built on special effects, audio, and lots of excitement. The ingenious load station would accommodate 12 train cars at a time in the load section, and in all, up to 10 trains could be flying through the course at any given time.

The queue itself would be full of fine details, and have a nice eerie song to get guests in the mood for the ride. Patrons could also watch live footage of the ride in motion on TV screens located in the queue. Signs throughout the queue would advise riders to eat lunch after they go on this ride, and further warns them not to ride it unless they brought a clean pair of underwear with them! A board lists the daily wages for different jobs in the mine and specifies which jobs are available. More posted signs would spell out the mine's policy; Safety Last - Profit First.

Near the end of the queue, two notices hang on the wall; one written by the theme park, warning against the railroad expedition, and another by the owner of the expedition company, stating that the park’s notice "does not represent the opinions or views" of the company. An old mining coot by the name of Marcel Mucker (A tribute not an insult) would wander the park welcoming guests and warning them of the dangers within the mine.

While attendants dressed as old mineworkers efficiently go about their business loading the coffins... sorry, mine cars, the riders in the queue are shown numerous videos of The Ghost of Darkness. He lives in the underground mineshaft tunnel with his pet crows and vultures, and tells you that the ride is perfectly safe. Then his alter ego, the Ghost of Light, appears and tells riders that this could be the most dangerous day of their life, and warns them that they might die riding this ride. He begs guests not to venture past this Point of No Return.

Another video shows a mock news flash detailing how a ride mine car has gone missing after entering the tunnel and has never been recovered. The Ghost of Darkness leaves the last video with mocking, booming laughter, just as those who dare board the ride.

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Despite forewarnings to dangers ahead, passengers who dare leave the station and the trains dip down out of sight and start to sway back and forth as it maneuvers along the track until the trains reach the first vertical lift hill. Riders take in scenic views of the entire Palace as they make a slow 15 mph ascent up the 45 degree lift hill to a height of 500 feet - 50 stories high!

While the air trains climb the track and embrace a very refined approach to scraping the stratosphere, plasma TVs attached to the side of the track display animations to make you think the track is falling apart ahead of you. Infuriated animatronics crows and vultures would be perched on the side of the track and squawking at the rider’s arrival due to the violation of their sacred ground. The vultures and crows have taken over the mine and these mischievous birds would appear several times throughout the ride.

After cars reach the top the trains begin to roll down at an incline so steep that you cannot see the track below. However, in order to add to the psychological terror of the impending 98 degree drop, the holding brake kicks in and holds the train cars for 5 seconds, leaving riders staring straight down to see that the track has in fact fallen apart and cannot be seen because it's at 98 degrees! Beyond vertical. What riders do see are the words 'Don't Look Down' written on the ground surrounding the dark mist filled mineshaft tunnel gaping up at them 50 stories below.

Before cars drop like a stone back to earth, the vulture cries begin to grow louder, mocking laughter is heard, and a 3-dimensional high definition holographic Ghost of the Light image appears out of no where to float in front of the mine car. The Ghost of the Light reminds the thrill seekers that he warned them not to ride this krazy koaster, then continues his mocking laughter then his image disappears!

Then just when you start getting used to gripping anything you can find within your reach the brake releases without warning and the train cars begin to fall from the blue. Cars immediately do a perfect 360 degree left hand inline twist then plunge 50 stories at a ludicrous 140 [expletive deleted] "smiles" per hour before burrowing straight into the ground through a mist filled mineshaft tunnel that goes 4 stories underground for a trip into the unknown. The mist filled elements would be created by dry ice produced from the carbon dioxide harvested from our landfill on the Kingsway.

The train cars would careen through the tunnel in absolute darkness until it reaches an area of track that would be surrounded by full 360º circular film screens where riders are forced to view various visual themes and scenery as the screen walls fly past. This superb display of choreographed projections, laser beams, lighting and spotlights is used to heighten the sense of disorientation. With various computer controlled images and scenery displayed on every ride, no two rides are ever the same, leaving guests never knowing what’s lurking around the next dark corner on their next ride.

The trains then do two perfect zero-g barrel rolls underground before exploding out into the daylight above ground to apex a camel back hump at full speed. The mine car then plunge back underground through another smoking mist filled black hole. The camel-back feature provides riders with back-to-back positive and negative G-forces.

The train cars then travel through a portion of an underground restaurant, nightclub, and the shark infested Seaquarium via an underwater tunnel. The trains then shoot skyward again and do a full 360º vertical loop before inclining a hill for a high speed overbanked turn at 122 degrees from the horizontal axis; sideways!

The train then drops straight down, clocks a corner, crests and descents a "floater" hill and begins a 200 foot lift hill climb. As cars crest the hill, riders assume that a vertical drop is coming next…but it doesn’t. The train scoots left to make its way across a creaking trestle to enter a snow drift filled tunnel that leads into a creepy abandoned saw mill that is frozen in time. Half exposed frozen bodies would protrude from the ice and shattering ice falls apart from the walls.

The overall coolness would be enhanced when riders receive blasts of cold air while passing through the section. The mine cars then enter a dark room and unexpectedly take a 90-degree 200 foot drop throwing riders forward as the train plummets to earth! Guests are kept oblivious to the transition between entering the darken room and the 20 story fall.

The train cars barrel down the 20 stories to return to the inky blackness of the deep mineshaft through a wooden building, and riders have a narrow-miss with the top of the building entrance as they dive into it. This is known as a head chopper; you think you will hit the support structure of the ride when in fact even the tallest rider with their hands up would be unable to touch the structure.

On returning to the mine, a gun fight is erupting across the track between audio-animatronic characters of two mine companies who are competing for ownership of the buried bounty of rock that dates back to the Eoarchean period.

The train then barrel rolls into a dive that lurches downwards two more stories deeper into the mine, where riders view hanging stalactites and stalagmites, flying bats, cob webs and glistening pools of water dripping from the roof of the mine. The train cars then pass through a flooded portion of the mine and a Tsunami-scale splash of water sprays a dense mist into the air, refreshingly hitting riders in face.

Riders’ skimming across a body of water feels more exciting to them than if it was going over dry land. It’s entirely a visual trick of course and at no time will the water actually touch the coaster or its track. Strategically placed water jets would be used to create a splashing effect that will dramatically heighten the ride experience. Stringed misters along this section moisten riders with mist of water just fine enough to cool them without soaking them.

The train cars then emerge from the mine shaft to burst into daylight and right into two inversions! The first inversion, a heart-line roll is fluid and smooth as glass and leads into the second, a rollover loop with around three seconds of hang-time! The mine cars then round a corner to begin to climb the final 300 foot lift hill. Prior to reaching the lift hill, a holographic 3D miner would be standing on the track with his hand up in the stop position. It's the Ghost of the Light trying to stop the train before entering the next tunnel of torment due to the danger ahead. But the train runs right over him!

During the lift, the cars pass signs warning of the TNT blasting ahead in the next mine tunnel. As the train car begins to dive bomb this last hill it does another perfect 360 degree right hand inline twist and plummets a gut-wrenching 30 stories as the rumble of dynamite loudens. The cars then drop into the depths of the mine tunnel to a thunder of TNT explosions, and as large fireballs erupt from the ground, falling logs and moving rocks threaten to flatten the train cars and the riders.

The mine car sways left then right to dodge rock falls. The mine car rounds a corner then suddenly the train screeches to a halt at the sight of a gnarled mass of twisted metal and impassable track. Riders are caught the point of no return. Riders view a large mural of the Lord of the Light etched into the rock wall while dozens of wriggling snakes cover the floor. Some of the snakes are being devoured by the vultures and crows. Dynamite can be heard getting louder as riders are caught in a blasting area. An explosion erupts illuminating the area and thrill seekers see a massive 16 foot boulder rolling toward the mine car that threatens to crush them.

Unbeknownst to riders, a piece of switch track flips over so that rather than retracing its route, the train takes a different course deep into the mine. Revenge of the Mummy at Universal Studios Florida also hits a dead end and sends its trains backwards, but it uses a more traditional lateral track-switching mechanism. However, new high-speed track switches, which each take six seconds to flip, are the first of their kind and represent a coaster breakthrough would be employed here.

With nowhere to go, the train hesitates, shudders, and suddenly proceeds to travel backwards into the mines dark void. The train then plunges down 3 stories more underground backwards sending riders freefalling to their apparent doom! The positive G-forces would push the lap bars into riders and the riders into their seats. It's a strange and disorienting sensation to be blindly racing backwards and to feel the strong gravitational pull. Once riders reach the bottom of the plunge the mine car screeches to a halt again. Dynamite explosions would be heard as riders view bubbling steam-rising from a hot spring.

A creaking, leaking dam is seen which provides a hair-raising finale to prevent your escape. The Ghost of the Light appears out of nowhere to laugh and mock riders again. A massive TNT blast occurs and a giant Rock falls beside the mine car. More water begins seeping from the dam. The Ghost of the Light can be heard laughing when an even bigger explosions goes off collapsing the dam. Torrents of water rush toward the mine car threatening to flood the entire mine and drown all of those in it.

Guests are kept oblivious to the fact that another lateral track-switching mechanism has been flipped. The train then lurches forward and to the side as it scrambles to narrowly escape and make its way out of the treacherous fog filled mine. The mine car air train crests and descends two bunny floater hills then shoot skyward out of the mine to make re-entry with Earth's atmosphere and returns passengers safely to the loading area ... except, of course, for those cars that have gone missing in the tunnel. The staff then leaps into action, straightening the cars for the next load of wannabe death mine riders.

This coaster on steroids would turn your world upside down three times, while the rolls, twists, turns and dizzying drops provide great ejector air hang time and sensory experiences unlike anything else.

Throughout the mine the train would dive under swinging logs, dodge rock falls, dynamite blasts and torrents of rushing water. Riders would experience smoke, fire, fog, ghosts fading in and out of view and small lit torches, coupled with startling pyrotechnics, special effects, climate variations and other diabolical ploys. while numerous animatronics props, vultures, crows, and ominous red eyes peer at riders as they make their way through the mine.

This tallest and fastest coaster would be the most twisted ride on the planet; but for now we'll keep riders in the dark about what other scary things come next! But just know guests are in for a ride to remember and one they'll never forget!

A souvenir photo system would use a rather cynical ploy to relieve riders of more money. During the three massive plunges, on-ride cameras would snap a photo of riders and record a video at the most intense part of the ride, resulting in the funniest possible pictures, and the pictures and DVDs would be available for viewing and purchase at a merchandise booth outside the ride's exit.

This theme park workhorse would quickly achieved icon status with visitors, and for locals, riding it would become a rite of passage! With a track length of of over 8,133 feet, Nickel City Mine would become the longest roller coaster on the planet. At over 540-feet tall, from top to bottom, NCM would be taller than the Statue of Liberty

As well as the track being perfectly manufactured to perfection, the feeling of vulnerability would be strongly exaggerated. To ride a coaster with high expectations and to have them met is always a pleasure. To have them exceeded is just heavenly. The ride would be a one of a kind, not only nationally, but globally too, and the public would lap up the kudos of riding a record breaker which would help keep the turnstiles spinning.

Ride enhancements would include stadium tiered seating on cars to provide more conform and to elevate riders who sit behind the front row; which gives riders a clear view of the thrills that lie ahead of them. We would also exploit new sensations of vulnerability that has heralded spectacular advances in train coaster car design, and take them to new plains of sophistication.

Furthermore, the setting for the ride is absolutely note-perfect; given Sudbury is a mining town from the 1800s, and this ride would do theming on a scale that would show Disney up! The ride would use unyielding amounts of steel work; audio, video, 3D visuals, and high speeds to make sure thrill seekers are effectively taken care of. This ride would be a psychological challenge for the public to conquer. This psychological beast is only as scary as you allow it to be, but would definitely leave your knuckles far whiter than when you boarded.

Mission Matterhorn: The Great escApe

Mission Matterhorn would be a first-class high-altitude, high-speed train adventure with plenty of yanking and banking that takes thrill seekers on a bone chilling journey through a mountain frozen in time. The mountain's full of surprises and once this animal takes off screaming will not save you.

In the mid 1880s, a moonshiner captured a Great Ape and housed it in an enclosure at the Primate Zoo in Sudbury. The Ape somehow escaped from the enclosure and is now living on the mountain. Daily expedition trips are launched in an attempt to recapture the beast and return him to the zoo.

The queue line would meander through the booking and permit offices of the search tour company and is brimming with Great Ape totems where the backstory is told. Before the trekkers enter the offices to reach the train cars, they are funneled past shrines in a courtyard with statues and several smaller representations of the Great Ape placed there by villagers' warning that the mountain is the land of the Great Ape and should be left alone.

The stage thus set, guests proceed to the railroad station where they board old trains then leave the base camp to head into the mountainscape in search of the Ape. When the trains reach the top it enters inside the mountain.

A sophisticated huge animatronic Great Ape figure would be constructed that roars at the riders throughout the trip. These roars would be heard at ground level in the queue.

Riders on the treacherous terrain of this towering mountain would endure nail-biting hairpin turns, airtime hills and high-speed banked curves. Riders would view a glacier grotto, cross a long bridge, pass through a network of ice caves, and under waterfalls before coming to a screeching halt on an incline as a projected shadow image of the Great Ape is seen ripping up a section of the track.

After inching over the crest the train freefalls straight down and right between the legs of the Great Ape then careens in and out of the mountain for some high-speed, banked-curve action.

Before returning to the station, the coaster makes one last pass through the mountain and the enormous Ape, infuriated by the violation of his sacred ground, unleashes his wrath on the explorers by taking a convincing swipe at riders with his oversized paw. The train proceeds forward and stops again in front of the torn up track.

That's when the real thrills begin, as the train encounters the roar of the Ape who is heard approaching the train begins to travel backwards plunging down 80 feet, "backwards," and enters a dark section of the mountain and stops again.

Track switching is used to allow the coaster to travel backwards and at this point track switches are used again, which allows the train to emerge moving forward from the dark mountain and plunge down the front of the outside of the mountain and return to the base camp leaving the Great Ape to remain as elusive as ever.

Before reaching the unloading zone riders view the old moonshiner sprawled out in front of his cabin, but guests are assured he isn’t dead; he’s just consumed too much of his product.

The Great White Traumatizer

Guests would see life from a new perspective - upside down, as this inverted coaster is so twisted it takes riders heels-over-heads 12 times; a world record. An inverted coaster is one where you sit beneath it in a chair with your feet dangling. It is themed as an Alpine Sking adventure but it's actually more like a chairlift that's run amok.

Guests would get wrapped in coils of this awesome "mega-super-looper" that would provide several footchoppers. Footchoppers are designed such that rider's legs appear to come close to the ride's support structure, water, or other ride surroundings, but in reality are not close at all.

Top Thrill Dragster Coaster

A custom designed hydraulically-launched 550 foot tall Top Thrill Dragster roller coaster. Top Thrill Dragster reaches speeds in excess of 120 smiles per hour. After all guests are fully secured by a seatbelt and lapbar, the two loaded trains roll forward to the launch area. The launch track would be located underground on level 1. To the left of the track is a Christmas tree light, similar to the ones employed at a drag strip.

Once the ride is prepared to launch, a motor revving sound effect begins. At this time, the magnetic braking fins lower from the launch track, and the train rolls backwards a slight amount in order to connect with the launch car below the tracks. The Christmas tree lights on the tower itself and the small light fixture to the left of the track cycle from three yellows to a green light.

As soon as the green light comes on the train begins its acceleration down the launch track, and a tire-screech sound effect is played. Near the end of the track is a sign which displays the speed that the ride was able to reach at that particular launch.

Shortly after reaching its maximum velocity in less than four seconds, the train would begin its ascent up a 90-degree incline that has a 90-degree counter-clockwise twist, then inclines the Palace sloped wall upside down that takes the train over the top of the 550 foot hill, where riders will experience significant zero g-force airtime. On the way down the other side, there is a 270-degree clockwise twist that leads into the magnetic braking section that brings the train to a swift but comfortable stop.

Top Thrill Dragster in other parks never operates in the rain, even if it is only a slight drizzle. This is due to the pain caused by raindrops hitting the riders at 120 mph. Top Thrill Dragster can also not operate in winds or gusts exceeding 35 mph. Our ride is indoors and would operate 24/7/365.25 each day of the year!

Rush Rock 'n Roll Over Coaster

The rock-centric “RUSH Fly By Night” rock & roll over coaster would feature a high fidelity onboard audio system that plays hit singles while passengers are sent through a series of six inversions.

Keeping with the theme, the loading station would turn up the volume by being designed to look like a giant Amplifier with a guitar leaning on it, and inside we’d get into some real heavy metal with black-light scenery and effects. The building would also display a vast collection of unique RUSH memorabilia pieces, such as a Juno Award and Gold record. There would also be multi-media players showing RUSH footage for people waiting in line.

Riders would then depart on their Backstage Tour. The roller coaster's layout starts with a straight drop into a vertical loop, followed by a double inversion cobra roll, zero-G roll, vertical loop and a corkscrew. Three helixes are also mixed into the second half of the ride. Rider’s experience 4.5Gs as they enter the last inversion, more than an astronaut does on a space shuttle launch. An astronaut aboard the Space Shuttle experience 3 Gs at liftoff.

The ride would also enter an underground sound stage where the coaster would stop for 3 minutes while riders view "the world's largest black light poster;" The Starman logo, which first appeared on the back cover of the 1976 album 2112, and “Mount RUSHmore;" a 2-story tall sculpture featuring the faces of bassist, keyboardist, and lead vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and the world’s best drummer and RUSH lyricist Neil Peart.

RUSH boasts 23 gold records and 14 platinum (3 multi-platinum) records. These statistics place RUSH fifth behind The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Kiss and Aerosmith for the most consecutive gold and platinum albums by a rock band.

During this stop riders would head-bang to a custom made hi-tech sophisticated animatronic performance by the band with a killer lead gutiar, bass guitar and drum solo, creating an unprecedented sensory "Movig Pictures" experience for riders. Upon completion of the video, the band members thank you for coming to the show and bid you a final "Farewell to Kings."

The cars then "Fly By Night," accelerating with the force of a supersonic F-14; from 0 to 60 smiles per hour in 2.7 seconds and shoot skywards out of the studio to return to the surface to hit the awe-inspiring, "fangtastic” and highly-visible cobra roll, in which the train flips over twice before it returns safely to the unloading station.

Spinsaninty

Riders would experience the ultimate in non-stop thrills with a wild spin on this cutting edge steel coaster. Forwards, backwards, sideways, up, down, riders don’t know which way their going. Each carriage has enough space to hold the whole family and spins around independently as it travels along the already scary track!

The Claw

The Claw is the most powerful stomach-churning gyro-swing pendulum on the planet that will send guests into 5-G territory. While facing outward guests are propelled 90 feet above the earth’s surface, and swinging up to 40 smiles per hour while spinning 360 degrees and skimming the very edge of the waters of one of the man made lakes.

Dark Rides

Dark rides are where guests "ride the movies." The combination of large format stereoscopic experience and top quality human figure animation, coupled with technical expertise make dark rides the next evolutionary step in the ride-film arena, and is sure to blow the socks off its riders.

Some dark rides are water based and some dry. Water rides are perennial favourites with theme park visitors the world over. Water based rides use boats while dry dark rides use cars or sleighs. All of our dark rides would have cameras within them to take ride photos. Those not wanting to get soaked on a water ride can buy a poncho at the ride's gift shop.

A shooting dark ride is a variation on the conventional dark ride in which riders aim for targets located throughout the ride. Dark shooting rides allow you to either simply ride and look around, or you can shoot at stuff and see how high you can score. Each ride vehicle is equipped with a hand-held or vehicle mounted light gun. "Shooting" a target may result in one of more responses, such as objects moving or lights changing color. The more you hit, the higher your score is by the end, which is not only displayed on a TV screen as you exit the ride, but also on your on-ride photo should you choose to buy one.

Theme parks love dark rides because they are high-capacity, family-oriented rides, and typically are not lawsuit riddled rides. Riders must be of walking age, but on some rides those under 5 years of age can sit on the lap of a parent or caregiver. Those under 8 years must be accompanied by a person 12 years or older.

The spectacular next generation attractions take thrill-seekers on bone chilling journeys through different rooms in a 50,000 square foot environment. The rides would be housed inside different buildings that are themed on the outside to coincide with the attraction, with nicely landscaped courtyard, exterior walls and exceptional eye-catching signage. The queue and pre-film ride take place on the main floor of the Palace but the body of the attractions, the different rooms, would be located below ground on the level 1.

The pre-ride film introduce the characters and supply the whole back story and familiarize patrons with the environment they are about to enter. While the pre-show film makes patrons prepared to enter the attractions world, there is no way they will be able to take in everything that awaits them inside the ride. This is intentional. The attractions are so rich that patrons would have to ride it many times to get the full experience.

Riders are constantly bombarded with color, music, and motion that will keep them amused and amazed, as they travel along in computer-controlled, motion-based cars, sleighs or boats, while a number of computer motor-based brains on each vehicle synchronize its movement with the action of the attraction.

The cars and sleighs have complete range of motion, they can move forward and back, tilt side to side and spin 360-degrees. The back seats on some rides would be higher and spread farther apart than the front seats in order to give riders unobstructed views.

In some cases the action uses audio-animatronic figures and effects. In other cases rides are completely reliant upon rear-projected 3D imagery that appears all around the riders.

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Integration of the 3D effects with the ride's physical set, the state-of-the-art motion of the cars, 5.1 surround sound and 4D environmental effects has taken dark rides to new heights, providing patrons with a totally immersive experience that is beyond compare.

The rides are designed to make it impossible to tell where reality ends and cinematic illusion begins. The physical sets are built and lit to match up perfectly so that the edges of the projection screens are invisible to riders; it all blends together. The images are brought to life in bright and vivid color, with seamless projection to create the in your seat 3D experience.

From backing up a long and winding staircase to floating over a mysterious dance floor to dropping into a subterranean cavern, the ride vehicles work in perfect concert with the projected video to complete the fully immersive simulation. The rides are replete with eye-popping characters and 3D effects. After the pre-show in 3D rides, patrons are immediately outfitted with "night-sight" goggles, polarized 3D glasses, and then they’re off to board the vehicles.

Swords, knives, arrows and other objects swoop toward rider’s heads while riders are pelted with wind, rain, snow, thunder, lightning, and nerve-rattling drops, although computer generated induced illusions makes it seem as though the plummeting is farther and faster than it actually is.

Floating, falling, rising, climbing, and spinning, the movements are nearly perfect, but not so violent that the younger members of the family cannot enjoy the attraction. There are a number of scary images that may startle some young children, but the movements are not too intense for those who can brave the creepy visuals. Guests who are scared can simply close there eyes.

Disney, Universal Studios and Busch Gardens are the world leaders in dark ride amusement. It cost billions of $ for them to build theme parks and neither of these three operates in Canada. Paramount operates Canada’s Wonderland, but they are only open 4 months of the year, and have rain out days. Pyramid Palace would be open year round and not have to compete with another arch-rival, Mother Nature.

Thus, we would offer these world leading dark ride operators free space to house their attractions, each featuring its own rides, shops, and shows themed in accordance with the name. They would pay no rent and no property taxes. Their cutting edge attractions would bring in visitors and the city would make money from the hotel stays, food, parking and Palace entry fees.

As we are a pay-as-you-go facility, all of the money paid to enter the dark rides would go directly to Disney, Universal or Busch. They would be responsible for the entire costs of construction, maintenance, and operating costs of their attractions. This would increase their market share not cut into their US home based attractions given the distance from Sudbury, and they would now be competing in Ontario with their competitor, Paramount.

Dark rides from Disney would include Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion and Indiana Jones Adventure. Disney would also include a Disney Store. Dark rides from Universal would include Spiderman, Revenge of the Mummy, Men in Black, and Cat in the Hat. Dark rides from Busch Gardens would include DarKastle.

Should they not agree, we would build our own fresh exciting dark rides that are sure to set your adrenaline on a boil. All of their rides are built by outside contractors who can simply be hired to build ours. All dark rides would be top drawer and use famous Canadian actors, comedians, or rock stars to narrate the character scenes. While I admit I’m no "Disnetologist," the following can be considered a designer boot camp; so let’s get to some of the storyline walk-through specifics.

Molten Mantel

Molten Mantel would be a dark ride that takes visitors on a journey, but not just any journey, for this is a Journey to the subterranean depths of the Center of the Earth. The adventure begins in an expedition storehouse where video monitors broadcast news bulletins reporting that a mysterious subterranean cavern has been discovered under the volcano, located at the back of the Copacabana beach, as described earlier. Science North Volcanologists report that the passageway through Marvel Cave may lead to the center of the earth, where prehistoric creatures may still exist.

A Science North scientist gives a brief discussion about what lies beneath the surface of the Earths crust and warns that the volcano could erupt at anytime. The vulcanology survey office states the trend is that there are increasing activities, however for now the mountain could stay calm.

The scientist would posts up charts and diagrams of mechanical burrowers they will use to travel within the volcano. Guests view rare specimens of rock and crystals found within the volcano and get a glimpse of the tools used to excavate them. Guests then descend into the underground base through a "Terrorvator." Guests would feel the heat of the lava as they travel deeper and deeper.

Once visitors finally reach the scientists’ base they board subterranean vehicles and travel through lakes, swamps narrow canyons and mysterious caverns to the earth's core. Guests enter a forest of glowing crystals. Each diamond and Gem holds a luminescent glow of beauty and grace. Traveling deeper past the beautiful crystal forest guests reach a much more mysterious realm; an unusual habitat of overgrown Fungi that comes alive and move on its own will.

Hundreds of other mythical animals appear just as bizarre and strange as the fungi itself. Prehistoric plants, skinwalkers who breathe fire and have several heads, wererats and other werecreatures surround the adventurers; some of them spit venom (water) at the riders. An ill-fated offspring of a werecreature who prefers carrots with ranch dressing to human flesh would get a chuckle from the riders.

Duckbilled dinosaurs watch you; ancient turtles chew on strange vegetation; large flying reptiles are perched ready to swoop down on unsuspecting riders. Suddenly a cave in occurs blocking the rest of the track, and the train is knocked off course having now to travel off the track and struggle to find a way back. The Volcano does not help much when an unexplainable subterranean thunder storm occurs. There is not a lot of time to study this beauty as the dangers of its force heighten.

Traveling through the dark caverns the distant howling of old beast that roams is heard. Each bellow and roar grows louder and louder until the vehicle takes a wrong turn, and instead of escaping, it ends up in the home of the monster. A gruesome wailing creature swings out from his lair, chomping his sharp teeth while looming twelve feet over guests heads, roaring and gnashing his jaws.

Then, without warning, the vehicle speeds up out of there and BOOM! – the vehicle is blasted out of the volcano and plunges back down into the caverns then travels at full speed to escape the fury of the volcano and safely return to the solitude of the scientists Base.

Monster Swamp

The Monster Plantation would be a boat ride through a Monster Swamp where all the friendly monsters are having a block party. It is set in the deep South inside a flooded plantation and is a "Pirates of the Caribbean meets prohibition" type thing.

Guests hop in a boat and slowly float into the entrance tunnel. Patrons are graciously welcomed by Mizzy Scarlet, an animated spaz of a lady, who jerks to life as the boat heads toward the back door of the plantation home. Once out of the back door, guests bump into a monster Sheriff named Billy Bob who warns them to not go into the Marsh, where the unfriendly monster dwell. Of course, you can tell where that's going to lead.

Your boat passes through the winding grounds of the plantation as you observe all the animated monsters in the county having a big party. One monster mother is telling her little worried monster baby to not be afraid of you, as "they're just humans." All this activity takes place in one giant scene but the noise of the party starts to sound distant, and your boat passes an old graveyard with two slow-moving fellows sharing a jug of corn whisky, whispering unintelligibly to each other, and the boats reach a fork in the river.

Sheriff Billy Bob is standing there beside his old car telling riders the way out, advice which you absolutely don't take, then your boat passes signs that say Monster Swamp--Humans will be eaten. As Billy Bob pleads with you to "don't go that way!," your boat crashes down a hill and you see the remains of several other humans whose wrecked and destroyed boat gives a vision of things to come. Giant, large, menacing, mean looking monsters point you out and descend upon your party. They hassle your boat as it winds through the black light swamp as the denizens groan and roar from all sides.

Suddenly, a blast from the sheriff’s gun drives off the hoards, and there's Sheriff Billy Bob scolding guests for going through the Marsh. As riders approach the end of the water ride a giant crocodile would jump out of the water and lunge toward the riders on the boat. Patrons then pass a monster band and Mizzy Scarlet is bidding guests a farewell and riders head toward the door. Once in the darkness again a giant monster face lights up and the boat goes right into his mouth to return to the unloading area.

The Monster Plantation would be a well themed family ride with great production value, and it fits the vibe of the park perfectly since we have our own swamp. The Monster Mash music would play while approaching the monster block party. This could also be a dark shooting ride where guests shoot the monsters that make funny hillbilly red neck like comments when hit.

Flash Flooded Mine

Worthington (now part of Sudbury, although a ghost town) was destroyed on October 4, 1927 when a rock shift caused part of community to collapse into a mine shaft.

Guests begin by entering the boats for what is supposed to be a leisurely boat ride through the woods of Worthington. After rounding a bend in the river a dam burst and riders are washed through a flooding town and eventually into a mine.

While riders flow through the flooding town they witness scenes inside buildings, where water is rising, a bank robbery is in process, prisoners are locked in a jail, trying to get out, people are frantically pumping buckets of water from buildings but with little hope. A man is caught under some debris, and is being held from going under by his faithful dog.

Parts of the town would burst into flames. A fire hydrant bursts squirting water at riders. Guests then get sucked into a flooded mine where some scenes would become a blur as riders are quickly brought to the grand finale; the town collaspes and riders are sucked down the mineshaft, a three story 77 degree fall. This would be the swiftest white water ride where riders get soaked as they raft through twists, turns and drops.

No other dark ride drop can compare to this monster in height, steepness and wetness. Period. Not to mention it'd be one of only two water flumes in the world that subjects riders to ejector airtime on the way down the chute.

Hurricane Hazel

On October 15, 1954, the most famous hurricane in Canadian history struck Southern Ontario. Hurricane Hazel was projected to dissipate, but instead re-intensified unexpectedly. Moving very rapidly, the storm ran into a cold air mass over Toronto and gave up its moisture; 11.23 inches of rain in 48 hours. Wind gusts were estimated to be over 90 mph and sustained winds were as high as 77 mph, meaning it was still a hurricane-strength storm after over 600 miles on land. 81 people were killed in Toronto where were washed away.

Bridges, streets and entire neighborhoods were washed out, homes and trailers were washed into Lake Ontario. Thousands were left homeless, and 81 people were killed, more than 30 on one street alone. The total cost of the destruction in Canada was estimated at $100 million (about $1 billion today).

Hurricane Hazel was the worst hurricane of the 1954 Atlantic hurricane season and one of the worst hurricanes of the 20th century. The rapid forward speed allowed hurricane conditions to spread farther inland than any other storm in recorded history, and it is the strongest hurricane ever recorded to strike so far inland. Hurricane Hazel is the only recorded Category 4 hurricane to make landfall as far north as North Carolina.

Our biggest and most spectacular water-borne dark ride could be Hurricane Hazel; a 6-minute long dark water ride where this history is told in the queue. Blowing winds, shutters banging, and loud weather sounds would increase as guests approach the loading area. Ride groups would enter a TV station and notice that phones are ringing off the hook, a glass of cola remains half finished, a half eaten sandwich and half-written lead stories lay upon the desk. Other clues reveal that the weather station employees beat a hasty retreat. A thunderbolt crackles outside the "window" in sync with the lightning on the television screen.

Lights would begin to flash as the storm is approaching. A weather alert would be given on the black and white TV, it’s a Class Four Hurricane and the only chance of survival is to weather the storm and try to escape to higher ground on the boats.

Guests board the boats and try to escape when the storm hits with a flurry. The ride would consist of unexpected drops, wild turns, flying debris, wind, thunder, lightning, darkness and fantastic effects. Most of the effects would be based on the elements. Giant Van der Graaf generators shooting real lightning over rider’s heads, pipes bursting causing geyser eruptions and balls of fire explode around riders. The first drop would be backwards then boats go down a huge drop through a water vortex. A few shocks, scares and floating dead bodies later and guests are climbing the final hill. Then down a double drop through a ring of fire which flames up as the boats fly through it. You get wet, you get airtime, and you get scared; for this is Hurricane Hazel; the ultimate storm ride!

A Chilly Beach ride, a Sudbury based creation, &/or Canadian Heroes of Lore and Yore rides could be created. Johnny Canuck is a Canadian cartoon superhero who was created as a political cartoon in 1869, while Captain Canuck, sporting "electro-thermic underwear," worked with Quebecois counterpart Capitaine Kébec, and avoided conflict whenever possible. He thus embodied the Canadian awareness of the duality and the limitations of our country.

The National Library of Canada is grateful to Industry Canada for supporting this National Library of Canada digitization project within the framework of its SchoolNet Digital Collections Program. They would also be grateful to us if we create this superhero rides. They'd also probably provide some funding!

Streets of Yesteryear

The Frontierland cobble stone streets of yesteryear surrounding the thrill ride section would house 19 century art deco buildings containing wood carving, weaving, quilting, pottery, antiques, tin shop, carpenter shop, log house, wardens office, prison, trading post, bank, school house, chapel, stage coach carriage house and a hand sculpted craftsperson signed candle making factory.

Scented candles that look like food, seasonal candles, traditional, elegant taper candles, and decorative candles of every shape and size. An old-fashioned photo shop that resembles a turn-of-the-century silent movie house, would allow guests to have photos taken with backdrops from the 1800s to the roaring '20s and 1950s.

Costumed interpreter craftsmen and women wearing period clothing will bring history to life throughout the Frontierland as craftsmen demonstrate skills that have been passed down from generations of dedicated artisans creating heirloom keepsakes right before your very eyes. We could also sell citizen sponsored name engraved cobble stone bricks for additional revenue source while the chapel would be open for theme park weddings.

Canada's only Blueberry Winery would also be located here and, since Sudbury is the Blueberry capital of Ontario, the World's largest Blueberry would be contructed. Guests could insert a Twonie into a coin operated box to hear this talking blueberry provide a recorded message about the construction and stats of the Blueberry and Blueberry Winery.

Guests can also enjoy a Wine Walk tour of our winery. We would age our wine underground in Forbidden City. The evaporation rate underground is only 1% compared to 8% above ground. Frank Gehry is a Canadian and he is the most famous living architect. He designed a bottle for Wyborowa Vodka and he would be commissioned to design our Blueberry Wine bottle.

Lazy & CrAzY Rivers

The Frontierland area would be surrounded by a hyperactive lazy liquid coaster river that flows at 2 miles per hour, where kayaks, canoes, row boats, peddle boats, hydro boats, fun yaks waterpillars, one-person or two-person inner tubes, aqua-cycles and water bikes of every kind would be offered for rent. The only fuels they burn are calories, and they quickly earn their "weight in profit." Torch lit gondola river rides would also be offered for hire on this “Aquabahn.”

The lazy river would be three-feet deep and makes a circuit around the park and eventually dumps back into the wave pool. Guests can float along the river past lawnscaping, ancient ruins, caves, waterfalls, spraying water devices, under bridges and past attractions. There is no swimming in the river, everybody must ride.

The whitewater crazy class 4 river course would loop the Pyramid on the outside of the lazy river and appeal to all whitewater enthusiasts. The course would be designed as a training facility for Olympic teams, a world-class freestyle kayaking venue as well as a family and corporate rafting destination. Paddlers will travel great distances to experience white water of this caliber and we’d be open year round.

It would contain more than 4,000 feet of multi-channel, self circulating white water Synthetic River broken into four sections, with each one incrementally more difficult. Pumps with 680 horsepower would flow enough water to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool in about 8 seconds.

The river could accommodate 50 rafts or 250 single kayaks at the same time and support world-class rafting and kayaking experiences. The river would have a variance in height with a gradient of 15 feet. It features movable obstacles that enable us to customize each rapid. Once riders reach the end they can paddle onto the conveyor that whisks paddlers to the upper level.

It is also called "wildwater" or "downriver" racing to distinguish it from slalom and rodeo. Guests can kayak, canoe or hydrospeed down the river. Hydrospeeding is awesome fun! Basically you've got a buoyant one man craft that resembles a wedge. Its pure white water rafting for one as you hold on to two handles and steer yourself down a white water river. Flippers and helmets are all provided.

Eight stone walkway bridges would cross over the rivers at various points to provide guests access to the centre hub of the Palace. This "Venice of the North" river would be both an attraction and a "transportainment system" and have special effects sound stages along the river bank for storytelling, autograph signings for bands and celebrities, annual Cup Speed Stacking, Rubik's Cube, Yo Yo and World Beard and Moustache Championships, as well as performing acts, such as cancan, Indian, Ukrainian and belly dancers, tap dancing, fire jugglers, magicians, illusionists, comics, puppeteers, dog and cat circus, talking parrot performance, mad scientists, holographic sea pirates, demons, and packs of Jurassic-era creatures.

Today, water is used as the screen onto which spectacular visual presentations are projected, and at various times of the day and night the river would showcase spectacular visual presentations.

The lazy river would also be home to a modern day legend monster; "Kraken The Rockness Monster." Guests can insert a Twonie into a coin operated talking box and listen to information describing the phenomenon of the river dinosaur.

The original Kraken is a legendary sea creature which would attack a ship by grabbing it with its many arms and capsizing it. The crew would drown and be devoured by the monster. The arms of the Kraken are said to be able to reach as high as the top of a sailing ship's mast.

The Loch Ness Monster is a cryptid, claimed to inhabit Scotland's Loch Ness, the most voluminous freshwater lake in Great Britain. Along with Bigfoot and the Yeti, the Loch Ness Monster is one of the best-known mysteries of cryptozoology. Belief in the legend persists around the world.

Named after these legendary monsters, “Kraken The Rockness Monster” is a massive, mythological underwater beast that will take guests on the ride of their lives if they’re not careful. This animal remains elusive because it usually lives in depths of the river and it’s rarely seen alive near the surface.

Guests truly fascinated with the monster can join the official fan club and stay updated about the latest sighting from the comfort of their home or office computer. During the Grand Opening of Pyramid Palace a 20 million $ reward would be offered to anyone who can capture the beast to prevent it from devouring anymore boats and people. However, the city would give 250-1 odds against the bounty ever being collected; only because the monster is so elusive.

As Gondola and other go with the flow river riders pilot their way down the river they would have to watch the overhead sky bridges to see if any river pirates on the bridge are getting ready to get them wet with the coin-operated "pay-to-blast" water cannon hoses that shoot sizable streams of water. Bridge dwellers are not the only people who get to use a squirt gun though. In these gondola's you can use a coin operated pay-to-blast squirt gun to fight back or soak unsuspecting guests on shore. Thus, park goers can pull a twonie from their pocket, aim carefully, blast away, and try their skill at taking pot shots at river riders or river bridge pirates.

Parades

Tropical events, festivals, fairtivals, parades, dancing, face painting and music would be held every day on the Palace's cobbled roads. A "Party Gras" float parade would would take place once a day and consist of dancers, performers, penny farthing bicycle riders and masterpieces of parade design; ten skillfuly decorated big inflated floats riding on electric golf cars.

The floats would be great, but it’s the talented cast of performers that treat guests to a spectacular street show. This parade draws on artistic and cultural traditions from all over the world, and also provides spectacular entertainment for kids of all ages.

Skateboarders and in-line skaters would zip on and off ramps on a parade float while some dancers would be in ceremonial tribal costumes; others appear as gazelles, wildebeests, monkeys, leopards, zebras, and cheetahs. Stilt walkers represent elephants and giraffes, and pole climbers suggest birds. The Golden dragon dance would be the finale, where a mixture of potent herbs is rubbed onto his eyes in the traditional “eye-dotting” ceremony.

A First Family would be chosen to open the parade and would ride down the parade route in the front float, waving at the guests lined along the route. To become the First Family for a day guests simply have be at the gates at opening time.

Another sight to be seen would be The Gondolier March. At the end of each day, a parade of gondoliers march through the park serenading onlookers. The parade would feature live music, singing, dancing, stilt walkers and colourful costumes. Most observers watch the elaborate show for free, some could accept a rhythmic instrument and become part of the performance, while those who really want to join the fun could get in costume and party alongside the performers.

Gondolier's would also hand out Cascarones; Confetti eggs. Cascarones are festive, hollow chicken egg shells, filled with confetti, hand painted and brightly colored. Cascarones are meant to be thrown or broken over someone's head, usually as a surprise from behind, scattering confetti all over the person.

Breaking the eggs over someone's head can be quite painful if done hard enough, however, this is most often done between friends. In earlier times, shy couples flirted this way. Today, throughout Mexico and the American Southwest, Cascarones are used to celebrate different occasions but, especially Easter. Beaning someone with a confetti egg is meant as a sign of affection and is said to bring good luck and good fortune.

Cascarone egg shells have a very small opening on one end and the inside is drained out. The empty shell is thoroughly washed and then dried. The clean shell is now filled with confetti and sealed with a tissue paper.

Historians have traced their birthplace back to China. It’s believed that they were brought from Asia by Marco Polo. These original eggs were filled with a perfumed powder and used as gifts. From Italy the tradition was carried to Spain and then to America. Carlotta, the wife of Emperor Maximillian, was so fascinated by the eggs that she brought them to Mexico during her husband’s rule in the mid 1800s.

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[Max]

In Mexico people replaced the perfumed powder with confetti. It was then when Mexicans labeled the egg shells “Cascarones,” which derives from the word "Cascara" which means shell.

The tradition eventually faded but in the 1960s Cascarones regained popularity in South Texas, where it has become a family tradition. Now Sudbury would become home to this tradition. Some make very creative Cascarone designs that sell for as much as $20 a piece, and our egss would range from 2 $ to 20 $, too.

To enhance the street vibrations during the parade, shop owners would also toss metallic beaded necklaces to guests from the terrance of selected stores. Guests could expect to catch a variety of beads in all shapes and sizes. Beads come in an assortment of shimmering vibrant colours; royal purple, emerald green, and shiny gold along with festive colors of electric blue, ultra red and startling pink.

Beads are for everyone and everything! Beads can be used to decorate ourselves, our cars, houses, boats, and sometimes even our pets! They are perfect for arts and crafts, too. Now people don’t need to go to Mardi Gras when they can get free beads with a mini-party gras parade year round in Sudbury.

Doubloons, metallic plastic coins bearing the Palace’s insignia on one side and the $ domination on the reverse, would be hidden throughout the Palace and those who find them can cash them in.

Other mechanized and live wandering stilt walkers, unicyclists, fire eating, sword swallowing performers, tarot card, palm readers and Palace mascots would entertain guests throughout the Pyramid. Local artists around the Palace would create paintings and portraits of guests and general sceneries, while numerous "Living Statues" would also be found in various places. Often mistaken for actual statues, they can be found entertaining and amazing guests daily.

Indoor Transportainment

A Sky Ride Aerial Tramway, the Matterhorn Express, would take guests on breath taking rides as they pass through “inner space” to the top of the Matterhorn and to a mountain top restaurant and scenic look out.

An aerial skyline gondola ride would open the skies to everyone and provide an efficient point to point non-stop transportation link and popular sightseeing way to transport guests from one section of park to another. This highway in the skyway would provide "Aeronauts" spectacular viewing of the Palace and a luxury transportation experience.

Mule drawn Stage Coach Carriage rides would be offered around the river, and through Bell Park in the summer. Mule Drawn Streetcars would take guests on a trip around the mountain. Park goers could also climb on the back of a mule and enjoy the opportunity to travel like a “Westward Ho!” pioneer.

Kids could take a ride in a little buggy pulled by a mule. All our mules receive at least 6 months of vacation per year, so since we treat our animals this good, you can imagine how well we’ll treat our guests!

If possible, Toyota’s single-seat electric “i-swing” armchair car on three wheels would be offered for a fee. The car comes with a “virtual friend” programmed inside that points out attractions and pricing. The robotics technology in the “personal mobility,” car would also work to remind you if you’re running late.

Orienteering is a sport where competitors navigate their way between control points marked on a specially drawn map. It doesn't matter how young or old or fit one is, now guests can walk, run, jog, bike or roller blade around the park at their own pace year round.

Rolling chairs would also be available to transport people around the Palace. Whatever moving mode visitors select they can be sure to have the ride of their life.

Our "Railvolution" electric Railroad Company would loop the Pyramid on a narrow gauge track with open carriage train cars departing from our train roundhouse station. The station would take the form of a railway signal box, enhancing the ambience further. The train not only provides transportainment but also brings family fun and awareness of railway transportation to the public.

Railroad buffs and other guests visiting the station would find everything of a railroading nature, including an Inco slag car, gift items, memorabilia, toys, a detailed modular HO model train layout, and lots of railroad lore.

We’d also attempt to acquire a wood Caboose built in 1800. A "Gold Spike Ceremony" would be held to celebrate the installation of the last lag bolts for our tracks. The installation of the bolts would be sold to the highest bidder. The railroad tracks would also produce electricity from the passing trains.

We would include a fire fighting museum and attempt to acquire a Silsby Steam-powered pumper from the 1800s. A 500-gallon pumper can flow approximately 2 tons of water per minute and is completely nickel-plated. A photo “Wall of Flame" and other memorabilia would be included.

For visitors craving an alternative experience, another out-of-this-world adventure would include another electric train designed to look like the Orient Express, which would provide two different ride experiences.

This globally connected; locally grounded train would travel around the outside perimeter of the Palace’s underground, on level 1, and take riders on a trip through the cities that the Orient Express serviced. The Orient Express began in 1883, the same year railroad construction began in Sudbury.

Thirty five foot high facades panels would depict detailed scenery from cities on the Orient's route. Forced perspective techniques would be used to employ optical illusions to make objects appear farther, closer, larger or smaller than they actually are. This manipulates human visual perception through the use of scaled objects and the correlation between them and the vantage point of the spectator.

This "train of thought" would pass through, Paris, Calais and Strasbourg France, London England, Munich Germany, Vienna and Innsbruck Austria, Budapest Hungary, Bucharest Romania, Varna, Sofia and Rousse Bulgaria, Istanbul Turkey, Belgrade Serbia, Zürich and Lausanne Switzerland, Milan Italy, Athens Greece, and Simplon, a high mountain pass at in the Lepontine Alps between Switzerland and Italy. Other worldly cities could also be depicted.

The 35-foot tall panels would be capable of rotating to morph into different scenery on the back side to create a creepy ambience. The "morph-o-matic" panels would rotate to become the world's longest dark ride that provide guests with a little paranormal entertainment; "The Darkest Show on Earth."

Once the panels are rotated, riders need to prepare to be scared as this "Fearscape" would now become home to a "Terror Train" offering a fully developed backstory about the nightmarish train ride down the tracks to our Sacred Site of Sacrifice.

The early train is safer for small children as the spooks in this forest frontier are reluctant to come out before it is completely dark. Later, the train gets pretty risky as we often disturb the spooks and find them in a foul mood. But, the 9:30 and beyond runs are for the mature audience and they ride at their own risk. Thus, the ride would be open to anyone old enough to take a scare, but there are grave consequences, so beware!

Alternatively, scenery would be shown on one side of the panels. City scenery would be depicted on the left hand side and the eerie forest on the right. Excursion trains with tiered seats facing into the park would travel in a clockwise direction for the city scenery tour and in a counterclockwise direction for the eerie forest.

The ride would also provide a North Pole Express, an Easter Egg Express, and a Haunted Harvest Pumpkin Patch Express. The train will stop so the kids can pick out Easter eggs and a pumpkin and have it transported back to the station. There would be additional charges for pumpkins, and a pumpkin painting and carving service would also be provided.

This indoor train ride through highly unique themed sets would offer thrilling surprises around every corner while employing soundscape audio and a host of multi-sensory elements; imaginary animatronic creatures and gory ghosts of the underworld, which will definitely make your skin crawl with something. If it's not the crematory, the unearthly looking undertaker, the underground tunnels or the crematory oven, it will probably be the rickety bridge suspended over hundreds of live snakes!

The devil is in the details, and we'd pay homage to the dearly departed as the train begins by passing through the Haunted Forest where Chainsaw Charlie is in fine form and maniacal cackles would be heard here, there, and everywhere. The train would cross a burning creaking covered bridge while phantom lights appear on the track and witness a headless grim reaper looking horseman riding the horse-drawn hearse towards a haunted cemetery. The screams and crying would only serve to insight the servants of the dead as they melt off into the dark of the night.

Part of the town would be set on fire by ghosts after a night of drinking, while other ghosts have taken over a prison and are trying to free other locked up ghosts from Cellblock 13, which is also full of dead inmates. The cloak of darkness would envelop fright fan riders as they careen through this creepy abandoned ghost town in which visitors can shoot at the ghosts and creatures.

Riders would view walking corpses, fire-wielding iguanas, horrifically disfigured, menacing shape that move in and out of the shadows, stilt-walking skeletons, a haunted circus, and disturb a group of witches performing some type of ritual. The train would then round a corner on the terror tracks and head towards another covered bridge that has been burned out. The train would coast through the curved tunnel, and as it rounds the bend, a beam of light from an oncoming train hits riders and a train whistle goes off. Is a huge train wreck about to happen or is it an oncoming ghost train?

Legend has it that in 1885, a novice driver took a wrong turn and his train disappeared into a thick fog while passing through the tunnel and never reappeared. The Palace Transit Authority has no information on the train. Many have searched, but none have been able to find any trace of the train, the crew, or the passengers.

Now years later, the ghosts, in their hate for the living have used their powers to lure victims to a similar fate. If guests are lucky, their scarific journey will end back at the train station beside the graveyard, and those that survive the ride through the twists and turns would have the chance to be photographed with the undead! And, along with the person be photographed, a ghost would appear in the picture.

The Palace Underground is also under siege. In the last 2 weeks two passengers have been murdered, so horribly that the Palace Police have initiated a cover up. Palace transit executives are concerned that business will be affected if the story comes out. Everyone in the know wants the murderer caught, or preferably dead.

Each murder was committed in a fashion mimicking a scene from a horror novel. A note from the killer was found with each body. Victim 1, female, was stabbed and dissected Jack The Ripper style while waiting for a late train. Victim 2, male, was stunned and tied to the tracks to be beheaded by the early train.

Could this be Murder on the Orient Express part II?

Pierre Michel is an ex-employee of the transit authority who plans on a nice extortion payment to supplement his meager pension. He now works part time as a security guard but used to be a conductor of the Calais coach. He knows the underground warrens exceptionally well, has basic medical training and has no fear of violent situations.

The murders appear to be inspired by the trashy novels which he reads on boring night shifts. Parts of the trophies were found kept in a nigh-inaccessible underground storage area that were apparently going to be use in the forthcoming extortion campaign. Pierre Michel has now gone missing and is wanted, dead or alive! No one is safe while Pierre is on the loose.

The Terror train backstory would change every 6 months to keep the "Spirits of the Railway" fresh as we enter the era of terror, with script ideas right out of the American film market.

“All aboard!”

Shoppertainment

A walkable "shoppertainment" store front culture would be created along the cobble stone streets of yesteryear by having a Marketplace Emporium consisting of a midway of quaint buildings, some with 3D storefront facades, and featuring boutique stores, specialty shops, theme shops, and pop up retailers. Pop Up Retailers pop up unannounced, quickly draw in the crowds, and then disappear or morph into something else. This will keep us fresh as you'll never know what retailer is in the Palace until you arrive. This district would pull in the retail addicts and grace the outside the indoor river walk.

An "One-of-a-Kind Antique Shop," Pharmacy, Micro-Bakery, Fudge Factory, Cake Factory and Ice Creamery Parlor would also be located here and add to the street-front excitement. Ice Cream is all about making people happy and Canada is the 5th largest ice cream consuming country in the world. Kids, adults, grandparents, rich, poor, everyone loves ice cream. Ice Cream, like coffee, knows no national or cultural boundaries. Throw a scoop or two of that ice cream into a glass with some Red Bull and Vodka. Now that’s what Sudbury would call a float!

The Palace would also sell Mini Melts. This new generation of ice creams looks more like M&Ms than creamy ice. Mini Melts are delicious kernels of flash frozen ice cream. They are made with the very best flavours from around the world. The kernels of ice cream have been flash frozen at extremely cold temperatures (-187°C). Mini Melts ice cream is served at -40°C in desert cups or waffle bowls.

Streetmosphere

The streetmosphere would be complete with impressive decorative street furniture, cast iron and wood benches, old fashion lamp posts, detailed masonry, cobbled streets, some imprinted with horseshoe prints and ruts from passing stagecoaches, and cascading waterfalls. "Liquid sky architecture" would consist of dancing fountains, musical fountains, flaming fountains, and waltzing water fountains with changing light projections and electronically controlled spray patterns.

Several fountains would shoot water up in the shape of a Pyramid every few minutes. You have to be quick in order to see it, as this is part of our hidden Pyramid program. Some of the other highly entertaining fountains speak, tells jokes and squirt water at people. Not only the look of water, but the sound of it spraying from a fountain or falling into pool would greatly soothe nerves jangled by the constant noise of thousands of people having fun.

All of these "streetacular" features would be located among gorgeous "naturescaping" of lush flower gardens, vertical gardens, tropical trees, three dimensional sculptures, screaming statues, and an animal zoo hedge carved into various animal shapes. The Park floor would have a wide variance in height, the highest ground level in the park would be 15 feet above the lowest. In this Living Garden the blind can touch and smell the herbs and fragrant flowers while a 40-foot high bamboo garden will filter dirty air.

High tech Audio spotlights, video messaging and ground effects would be used throughout the Palace while coconut and other pleasing aromas would permeate the air by being pumped in through the air system.

The cleanliness of this five-star coaster city park, one of the best parks in the world, would rival Disneyland. The park would have trash cans equipped with huge animal heads that would "eat" (suck) the trash out of patrons hands and into their mouths. The headed trash cans would be designed to encouraged patrons to properly dispose of their litter by making it an amusing experience.

The trash eaters used an unusual design. There was a blower motor inside the trash eater "house." The inside of the "house" would be sealed so that when the door was shut, a vacuum was created which sucked trash into the trash eater's mouth. The trash would then hit a stop and fall into the trashcan located inside the trash eater "house."

Restaurant Row

Pyramid Palace would forbid people from bringing in outside food. All food must be purchased in the park and all restaurants and cafes would be controlled by the city while all produce would be freshly grown for free in Forbidden City to increase profit. This upmarket restaurant zone consisting of cafes on the international streets would offer a tasty menu from around the world to please the health conscious Dr. Jekyll and junk food loving Mr. Hide.

The variety of menu items and price points allows guests to tailor their dining plans from casual to formal. Born again carnivores, sweet tooth and artery clogging hungry guests will be bellowing in a virtual orgy of beef, prime sirloin, porterhouse, filet mignon, sea food, sushi, pizza, ice cream, yogurt, hot dogs, hamburgers, French fries, tacos, fajitas, pretzels, green salads, soups, subs, Chinese, Japanese, Thai, European and South American cuisine. And every calorie laden liquid imaginable would also be available.

Lively English and Irish watering hole pubs would offer lager-fueled guests a pint or two, and broadcast English Premier League games for the die-hard soccer fans. On most nights, guests could also catch an Irish band and participate in sing-alongs.

Guest’s could also step into the ancient Orient at our Sunken Japanese Tea Garden oasis. Cyber Cafe, would provide Internet service for 50 cents per minute, 5 $ for 15-minutes, 8 $ for a half-hour and 12 $ for an hour.

An online reservations book would allow guests to book their favourite table in any establishment. The Palace would host a restaurant fashion food festival week and this culinary festival would welcome all ages to a showplace of fine food and wine in restaurants row. The fun would include guest chefs, a wine cellar pavilion, live music and more.

CineCity

The Pyramid would also house five big cinema screens and become home to Cinefest, which would be moved up 1 week and be held the same week as the Toronto International Film Festival. We are not competing against Toronto and the world's greatest movie stars are in T.O. for the festival. They are only a 45 minute flight from Sudbury, and once our world class attractions are complete, we would invite some stars to visit CineFest, which would be a huge draw for our city.

The city would also create a Lesbian and Gay Film and Video Festival in May. Gay tourists spend more money than straight people do. In conjunction with our annual Italian festival, an Italian Film Festival would be held in July. In August, a French Film Festival would be held with Cinefest closing out our film fest year. With our existing IMAX film festival in January, Sudbury would become Canada's film festival leader.

Screens would show movies throughout the year and declining ticket prices would occur in the 4th and subsequent weeks of a release. Sudbury Wolves away games and sold out home games would be played on our screens which would add new revenue to our piggy bank. For additional fees, guests can sit in our Gold Class section consisting of reclining seats, and alcohol beverages would be offered for sale.

A CircleVision-360 wraparound panorama theatre would be a unique cinema in that it completely surrounded the audience with moving images and gives a tremendous sense of realism. Films are shot in 35mm and inside the theater, the audience stands, and lean rails are provided to help with the stronger sensations of the film, but nothing in the theater actually moves. Films from various countries would be shown.

Vertical Wind Tunnel

A vertical wind tunnel is a recreational wind tunnel, frequently advertised as "indoor skydiving" or "bodyflight." Indoor skydiving also appeals to the mass market audience that are afraid of heights, since in a vertical wind tunnel, one only floats a few feet above trampoline-type netting.

Wind speed can be adjusted, usually between 80 to 140 mph, to accommodate the abilities of an individual. Indoor vertical wind tunnels contain the person within a chamber through the use of walls and are large enough for multiple simultaneous flyers. It's safe enough for kids, challenging enough for adults, exciting enough for teens, and realistic enough for professional skydivers.

Gatesology Bubble

An info-spheric bubble would house our Gatesology attraction, a theme park of the mind. Bill Gates single handedly brought communities and families back together. He’s made the world a smaller place with Microsoft technologies and this attraction would display products of the future. The outside of the bubble would constructed of hundred of pyramids, just like Spaceship Earth is in Disneyland and the Cinesphere located on the grounds of Ontario Place in Toronto.

Magicademy Mansion

Another attraction would be the “Magicademy Mansion” that plays with your equilibrium and balance as well as displaying magic, illusions and walkthrough mazes. Illusioneers would provide a selection of tricks and gags that can turn budding would-be magicians into little Houdini’s.

Game Zone

The Palace would also have nine 5 pin & three 10 pin bowling lanes, and we'd host the best cosmic bowling around. Rock-&-Glow bowling nights with coloured lights pulsating to the beat of the music, glow-in-the-dark pins, and fog machines, which adds to the effect.

The Palace would offer child assisted lanes, automatic bumpers that pop up for the little ones that need help, then drop down for Mom and Dad. We would have light weight balls for the smaller kids and those who forgot to eat their Wheaties. We would also offer 5 mini-lane bowling lanes. These kid lanes are half the length of regular lanes with light weight balls.

The Palace would also house a Game Zone & Amusement Arcade Parlour that would offer pool tables and over 150 different games to play, including a giant Soft Play Area, a totally supervised environment, safe and great fun.

Parades by day, Party’s by night

Those who wish to spend a night "under the town" instead of on it would enjoy the world's largest underground nightclub in Forbidden City. Cave Haven Ministry of Music Nightclub would be designed as a cave where cave catting night lifers would be allowed to rock their night away and spend their bottom dollar in the perfect hideaway. It would be cavernous without feeling impersonal, unique without being gimmicky, and elegant without being pretentious.

A subterranean location can be a real asset for the city and visitors alike. The novelty of an unusual setting, a sense of anticipation triggered by unfamiliar surroundings, or simply a chance to go somewhere different may hold special appeal for people when they seek relief from their daily routine.

This boutique underground nightclub would be a different beast from other nightclubs and Sudbury would take underground music and club culture to a new level, down under! Our DJs would know what you want to hear before you do, and with five rooms we would cover the global music scene by playing many different styles to many different cultures. The winning formula would be insured by often having internationally known DJs flown in to impress the crowd, taking playtime in Sudbury to yet another level.

This dust to dawn club would be immensely popular with teens, the 20 and 30-something crowds as well as gays, cougars and coyotes. The 25,000-square-foot nightclub would be able to deliver a multi-sensory experience thanks to its five distinctive rooms, each one featuring a different DJ, musical style, atmosphere, and beverage specialists.

With five night clubs in all in one location, if bargoers can’t find one that suits their eyes, ears and palate, they should probably just go home or back to their hotel and go to bed.

Depending on the night of the week, dance halls would host live music acts, themed events or teen nights. All teen dances are booze free, but they can still move to the groove. Some nightly events would include all students receive 1 $ off draft beers with student ID. Buy one drink; get a second drink for $1. Two for one drinks all night long. We would also host famous UK club nights, Jeopardy Quiz night with a 40 $ bar tab up for grabs, and corporate sponsored Dance Party’s. These events would help keep the energy level on overdrive all week long.

Cover charges would vary per event, and increase after 10 p.m., but for a little more dough, guests can claim a table early with VIP service. The club would offer VIP purse lockers and Front-of-the-Line passes for all playgirls and playboys. The Party Pass would allow patrons to enjoy unlimited club-to-club access and incredible music and entertainment.

Fashionable attire would be required in three of the rooms and baggy jeans, visible undergarments, ripped clothing, clothing with offensive language or graphics, work boots and backpacks of any type is unacceptable. Dress to impress and guests won't find themselves on the wrong side of the velvet ropes!

The club would also have a logo shop with clothing, condoms and other items to commemorate their trip to Cave Haven; the place where misbehavior is encouraged and every night is party night!

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As you enter the club through a futuristic tunnel, the club's visual charms would hit you immediately. The chic main room would be loaded with cutting-edge design elements and meticulous attention would be paid to every detail.

Using the latest technology available, our main room would have dozens of video screens embedded into the ceiling that allow for the display of one composite or multiple images above partygoers. The mine dive roller coaster would also enter part of this club.

The club would have one of the coolest dance floors in Canada, made of lit onyx. This sustainable dance floor generates electricity from footsteps on the floor which is harvested to produce renewable energy.

The club would also feature a unique light and laser grid, state-of-the-art cryogenic effects and unparalleled sound design, whose effects would truly be felt in all areas of the club's main dance floor. Our system has 550,000 watts of concert quality sounds, so the music will be thumping really hard.

Reservations are required for table seating and partygoers won't be disappointed if they decide to sit at one. The tables would be veritable conversation pieces; each one has constantly changing images that are projected onto the tabletop. Many tables would be interactive, equipped with patented "Human Locator" technology; meaning the images on top respond to touch and motion, and table drink packages would be available.

Every 45 minutes, spunky boy and sexy girl aerialists descend from the space above the floor and club-goers can watch these scantily clad performers twisting and contorting their bodies onto and inside of metal contraptions shaped like stars and moons. Go-Go dancers, both male and female, would flank the dance floor on elevated platforms, showing everyone down on the floor how it's done. Above the aerialists confetti drops several times a night.

Sexy female bartenders would also get up on the bar and dance, sing and encourage patrons to drink more alcohol. Women would be encouraged to get up on the bar and dance with the bar slingers; but men aren't allowed on the bar. The main room would truly be a lounge for co<tail lovers and also consist of a large encircling chic VIP balcony looking down over the dance floor.

Each of the four side rooms have its own personalities, its own bar, and features its own specialty drinks. The Chill Out Room would often feature live percussionists, Jazz, Blues or Country music in this intimate less-crowded room.

Now country fans would have a place to kick up their heels while sexy cowgirl and cowboy attired bartenders serve up specialty drinks. Located on the other side of the club, the Rock Room features mash-ups, '80s dance music and more. This area features dance platforms and VIP seats along the walls.

The gay, lesbian, bisexual and transsexual dance enthusiasts and other free spirits and open minds will enjoy our Snap Happy Room; the most uninhibited and unpretentious dance club in town. This "Wear what you Want" joint allows guests to dress as casual, swanky or as naughty as you dare.

The music mix would start out on the pop side of life and go deep house in a hurry. This room is not for the small-minded and gay and transgender dancers would be featured. Whether you're looking for some go-go boys, or bears, we would have the gay scene covered.

The Kiddie Klub would feature a dance floor, light show, and a soda and organic juice bar serving a range of mouthwatering vital fluids; smoothies, pop, fruit, juices, vegetable co<ktails and other refreshing concoctions. The entrance to the Klub would be separate from the other rooms.

Looming over each dance floor from a raised platform throne is the DJ booths, spinning grooves and allowing the mix master to truly control the pulse of each room via an unmatched vantage point.

All rooms would have modernist furniture, the service ultra-attentive, and the servers as friendly as they are attractive. While the male staff wear modest black button-down shirts and pants, female servers sport low-cut black dresses, and both provide a tableside drink mixology, fine bottle service and signature co<ktails. All servers also occasionally make their way to platforms to dance to the music. The cave would also host bartender contests to see which barmister or barmistress is the best drink mixer.

Despite the booming volume of music, the sounds would not bleed through from one room to another, all of which would make a near-perfect nightclub experience no matter what might be one's musical taste or attention span. Whether you're into hot bodies, great dancing, karaoke, live music or just throwing down some drinks, Cave Haven would be the icing on the nightlife cake.

This Ministry of Music would become the Dance Hall Capital of the Canada, the sexiest place on earth, and Sudbury would become home to world class clubbing dance halls with a nightly selection of fresh rhythms and tunes to suit every person’s ears. Appetizers, finger foods, soups and desserts would be offered in all rooms from the Heart Attack Grill' a "Taste Worth Dying For." Scantily clad, unregistered nurse’s dressed in naughty nurse costumes would dish out coronary cloggers such as Bypass Burgers and Flatliner Fries. The mine diver roller coaster would also pass through this restaurant.

Guests would also enjoy a great selection of fine teas, specialty coffees and co<ktails, spirits, domestic and imported beers, hand selected champagnes, white and red wines by the glass or bottle; but despite the festive atmosphere, everyone would be expected and required to stay in control of their person, as bad behaviour and obnoxious drunken lunkheads would not be tolerated.

And, since scantily clad entertainers aren't just for the boys anymore, Cave Haven would host a number of all male reviews for ladies to enjoy, giving it a mini-Vegas feel after dark. All ultra lounge rooms would also be rented out for private functions such as bachelor and Bachelorettes parties, and naughty bachelor and Bachelorettes cakes would be available for purchase. Now you can have your cake and eat it too! This is life in the 21st century after all!

We would also create a Sudbury drink and visitors can get Sudburyized. Not sure what "getting Sudburyized" means? Our friendly barkeeps will pour you a shot of pure grain alcohol; the coolest anytime drink in the universe. After you have gulped down your shot the barkeep tips the glass over on the table and lights the excess, which burns a bright blue flame. You have now been Sudburyized and we will issue you a wallet sized city certificate to prove it! Guests can also buy a T-shirt to tell the world that they have been Sudburyized!

Military Madness

Forbidden City would also offer a Military Paintball and Laser theme Park. All with a Disney-like approach to the opportunity; so be prepared to be blown away! We would have a well stocked 1st Division Pro Shop as well six scenario fields, which include a large urban field, ghetto city field, two tire fields, trench field and barrel field. This sport is exciting, fun and challenging with large forts, towers, bunkers and great fields that can be re-arranged quickly to keep from getting old & familiar.

Our laser tag guests would immerse in the high speed, high tension battlefield. Everyone in the game is fitted with a state of the art laser gun and head sensors. You score points by killing your opponent with a direct laser hit. Games now provide a real alternative to paintball without the need to wear restrictive goggles or safety equipment.

Exploratorium, Shoppertainment and Edutainment Levels

The 2nd level of the Pyramid begins on the 15th story and vertical transportation is provided via several banks of 25 person glass-faced elevator lifts. The four-sided Pyramid streets could be named Skyline Drive, Heritage Highway, Lakefront Avenue and Cityscape Boulevard.

This would be a mile long Exploratorium level concourse with a leasable area for up to 400 retail "shoppertainment" outlets and 4 anchors located at the corners.

A third level on the 30th story would contain an "edutainment" discovery zone and consist of museums & kidseums designed to inform as well as interactively entertain.

Many museums would be self-guided without the need of many employees. A swaying suspension walking bridge would cross the Pyramid 15 stories above the main floor, and guests can also ride a bike across the Pyramid on a high wire.

Incline Railride

A mind bender skyway incline rail ride to the sky would be encased in all four sides of the Pyramid giving views of every side of Sudbury as riders incline the Pyramid. Three dimensional projected images will be cast upon outside of Pyramid at night along with for profit advertising.

Sky-Way-Ray

At 42.3 billion candlepower, the Luxor Hotel Sky Beam in Las Vegas is the strongest beam of light in the world. Using computer designed curved mirrors to collect the light from 39 Xenon lamps and focus them into one narrow beam; astronauts can read a newspaper by the beam from 10 miles in space. On a clear night, the Beam is visible up to 250 miles away to an airplane at cruising altitude. It costs 53 $ a hour to operate.

The Palace would outdo it with a 43 billion candlepower Sky-Way-Ray (adaptable to 80 billion) which will be used on special occasions. Within the Sky-Way-Ray will be 3D projected Sky Dancer images. We could then invite illusionist Criss Angel here and watch him levitate 500 feet above the light beam, like he did in Las Vegas.

We could also use lasers powerful enough to project a Pyramid into the night sky. Yup, it's another (not so) hidden Pyramid.

Time Capsule

A time capsule containing a 100 $ bill would be placed at the top of the Pyramid on our Grand Opening Day and the capsule will be opened, and the money cashed in, in 100 years.

Festivals & Fairtivals

Pyramid Palace would guarantee thrills, fun and excitement for any function – conferences, staff events, meetings, company fundays, product launches, presentations, celebrations, birthdays, Valentine's Day, engagements, , wedding or baby showers, bachelor, bachelorette, anniversary, divorce, retirement, reunion and Christmas parties. Guests can also pledge their love and devotion to each other and make it truly a wedding in the heavens in our sky high wedding chapel.

People talk about where and how they celebrate anniversaries, birthdays and holidays, so these special occasions are especially rich opportunities to build word of mouth business. Once complete, Sudbury will have only the 4th indoor water park in Canada and only the 3rd indoor amusement park / shopping centre in North America; but we'd have the best and most original rides and mythic theme.

There are 52 weeks and weekends in a year and a variety of 52 weekend, week long and month long festivals within the Pyramid will occur throughout the year. The palace would also host numerous parades. Chinese New Year, Valentine's Day World Water Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Earth Day, Mother's Day, Victoria Day, Father's Day, Canada Day, Civic Day, Labour Day, Grandparent's Day, Yom Kippur, Thanksgiving Day, Halloween, Remembrance Day, Christmas, Boxing Day, and New Year Eve.

The Palace would also attempt to create a new trend; selling Easter trees. During Saint Patrick's Day the river will be dyed Green; and May the Luck 'O the Irish be with You!

During October, the Palace would host October Fest and also be turned into a HallowScream Giant Pumpkin Patch Park. We'd host the ultimate Pumpkin Party and dare guests to take the spook-tacular short cut through our haunted terror-filled scare zones that are filled with gruesome creatures hiding in the vegetation, the undead wandering around in search of new victims, and bloodied maniacs lying in wait to give guests “Frightmares.” Kids would enjoy our Hallow-Swings and could also fill their bags with goodies galore on a not-so-scary Trick or Treat Trail.

From mid-November until January 8, the Palace would become a winter-wonderland with the park decorated as if a scene from a snow globe. The Pyramid would be turned into Jingle Bell Park and nobody would deck the halls better than us. An enormous Christmas tree, miles of garland, a bazillion twinkling lights, carolers, elves, and other holiday hoopla would be topped off with a candle light Christmas Parade, consisting of dancing snowflakes, a festival of lights, and Santa Claus, Mrs. Claus and Rudolph making a grand appearance on the Polar Express Sleigh ride.

Two million lights in the Palace would be synchronized to the music from the Tree. Not only would the lights on the Tree be sparkling in time with the music but lights from the buildings and lights on over 200 smaller trees around the Palace would also be involved immersing guests in a new holiday experience. Each night during the festival the highest bidder would flick the switch for our Christmas tree lighting ceremony. The Tree will then perform every 15 minutes from 6:00 until midnight.

The Snowflake Festival would also return to Lake Ramsay. The festival would have a Mr. And Mrs. And Miss Snowflake, a Freeze yer Gizzard Blizzard cold weather Triathlon, polar bear dips, dress up your dog and dog howling contest, dog sledding races, grocery bagging contest, Baton twirling competition, motorcycle, quad, go-kart and snowmobile racing on ice, a table top hockey tournament, air hockey tournament, and the world’s largest Pond hockey tournament.

We would also hold "The Happiest Homegoing Party on Earth" for out of town students at the end of the school year. Foreign students in the US create a 15 billion $ a year economy. While we don't have that many students they still contribute to our local economy while living in our city, and we will salute them during student fest!

All of our festivals and fairtivals would hold a Street Fest / Fair "Poster" contest. People would design our posters and the winning posters would thereafter be forever showcased in our Art Museum.

This internationally recognized theme park mall is sure to be a hit as a local get-away as well as a vacationer’s destination. Every one in the world turns into a happy child the moment that they enter a theme park and now those who don't want to risk a less than perfect holiday could frolic at Pyramid Palace. Touristic groups and city dwellers would no longer need to travel tormenting long distances to have a fulfilling theme park experience. And given the dramatic themed environments, the Palace would also become a spring-break destination for students which would increase our crowd surge.

Souvenirs

Merchandise shops will be carefully designed to maximize the opportunity for guests to purchase our goods, as sales from merchandise are a major contributor to profits from theme parks.

Guest’s can purchase a veritable cornucopia of quality Sudbury themed souvenirs and endorsed merchandise enhanced with our city name embossed somewhere on the product: T-shirts, T-shirt dresses, tank tops, sweatshirts, baseball caps, wallets, pens, key chains, refrigerator magnets, cascarones, pinata’s, ceramic masks, stickmasks, faces, jesters, ornaments, posters, big nickel coins, swirls, which is a ceiling hanging ornament, fannie packs, coffee cups, mugs, bath mats, glasses, lighters, beer steins, bath towels, top hats, lapel pins, glass paperweights, candle holders, pet moon rocks, crystal pyramids, skyway towers, mythical beasts, Sudbury mascot bubble heads, plush toys, postcards and even condoms. Yes, it's the Pyramid Palace Condom, for a completely different kind of pulse-quickening fun.

The Palace would also have a mandatory locker policy. Every afternoon is a carnival in this evocative 21st Century resort and while the Palace would offer guest’s carnival games to play with the chance to win a prizes and large stuffed animals, guests would be charged 3 $ to leave them in a locker while they ride a roller coaster, use the pools or enjoy attractions.

Ticket Pricing

This future fun factory would be as busy in the winter, if not busier, then it is in the summer, as it is a four season Pyramid Palace Paradise. The physical thrills for the new rides will be minimal; the psychological thrills, however, will be off the charts for most people. While spectators can watch riders defy gravity, ratepayer’s can watch our bottom-line defy gravity, too!

The city claims we already receive 1.5 million visitors to Sudbury and 40% visited family or friends; 30% were business travellers, and 25% were just passing through Sudbury on driving holidays leaving only 5% of tourists actually coming to visit Sudbury for a holiday. Most tourists spent only one night in Sudbury and 92% of visitors are from Ontario. They spend 174 million $ in Sudbury. Demographics explain about 2/3 of everything and play a pivotal role in the economics and social life of our city. Anyone involved in planning for the future needs to understand demographics.

Naturally it's conceivable to assume most visitors would visit this attraction, in addition to drawing thousands of otherwise drive-by tourists into the city.

With a 3 $ Palace entry experience fee we would earn 4.5 million $ a year based upon 1.5 million visitors; not counting earnings from local residences who visit. Add a 3 $ parking fee and yearly revenue will at a minimum raise 7 to 10 million $ (70-100 million $ in 10 years) just from parking and Palace entry fees. This money would be used to employ staff, dancers & performers. During the month of November the Palace would offer free admission to Veterans and their families.

Then there is the multiplier effect. The more people spend at the gate the more they spend inside the park. Visiting Walt Disney World is now a $66 ransom, up another 5%, yet despite the higher gate price guests are spending more money than ever in the park. And, despite an uncertain economy, theme park attendance is on the rise. Visiting the “Second Happiest Place on Earth,” Pyramid Palace, would cost a mere 3 $ to get in.

Virginal guests would pay full entry price while Sudbury residences will be able to purchase a discount Palace Card good for 50% off on repeat visits. All toddlers under 33 inches enter free with a paying adult. All rides and attractions are pay-as-you-go. Ride prices would change without notice based upon demand, various hours of the day, the amount of snow fallen, and the temperature outside. Single rides would be 7 $ or a 20 $ purchased wristband ticket allows the purchaser to go on the ride an unlimited amount of times that day.

Prepay Palace Passes would be offered on a weekly, bi-monthly, bi-annual and annual basis. The Palace Pass would be a must for Sudbury sightseeing, offering free entry to all of Magnetic North’s best charging tourist attractions and rides with one very affordable ticket. Guests can visit as many Palace Pass sights as they like, and the more they see the more they save!

The Palace would also offer a Fast Pass the "virtual queue" system for an additional fee. The concept is fairly simple and time tickets have been used successfully at World Fairs for years. This ride reservation system gives the ticket holder a time to return to the attraction from which they got the ticket and thereby eliminated standing in line. By allocating time slots, the Palace could make money out of peoples' impatience.

It also means more versatility. Fast Pass packages can be sold including certain rides, excluding others, while giving ticket holders an increased feeling of importance. But the benefits of line reduction programs go well beyond guest satisfaction. As customers waste somewhere around 25% of their day in line, parks are missing out on money spent in restaurants and shops.

Promotional Campaign

The Palace’s promotional campaign would be equally impressive. The turning of the first shovel during all groundbreaking ceremonies would be sold to the highest bidder. The soil would be bottled and placed in the time capsule, which would be opened in 100 years. We would also sell tickets to construction sneak a peek tours during the earthworks and construction phases of all venues. The ribbon cutting for each ride and attraction would also be sold to the highest bidder. All winning bidders would have their names placed in the time capsule.

Everyone wishing to be among the very first to ride the rides would be allowed to bid. Top bidders get to choose their seat position on their first ride. Prior to the Grand opening we would also pre-selling advanced tickets for all rides and attractions within the park good for specific dates and times. Guests would be allowed to preplan their trip online and when they arrive they would receive a smart card with all the necessary venue passes coded into the card.

Guest’s also receive points for riding our rides. Frequent riders can simply pass their reloadable card through the electronic pass reader machines to automatically be credited with frequent rider points. Points are redeemable for free rides, food, hotel stays, gifts and souvenirs. From 12 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. each day guests would earn double points with our multiplier earning period program. Guests who ride every thrill ride in the Palace would earn a free limited edition T-shirt. Those who reach 1000 rides on any one ride would earn a free night in the Prime Minister suite!

There would not be three hour-long lineups for rides like at other theme parks and, thanks to the great indoors, there would be no rained out days, thus maximizing the facilities use, customer enjoyment, and the city's profit.

Presenting Sponsors

Presenting sponsor naming rights to all rides would be sold. The <sponsor's name> <ride name>" (e.g.,"The Pepsi Big One"). The city could also sign a branding-rights deal with any number of entities for the Palace. The Mall of America’s 13-year partnership with the "Peanuts" gang ended last year and Charlie Brown and the other characters are known world wide and might be available.

Other theme options are Mr. Dressup and his co-stars: Casey and Finnegan, the Friendly Giant and Rusty and Jerome, &/or the Polka Dot Door. The Polka Dot Door's host was Cindy Cook who is from Sudbury. However, the fun part of the business is “not having to work within the boundaries of a particular character or storyline.” The principal advantage of not using highly identifiable icons is that it forces us to be more creative. Creating unique characters, attractions, rides, play areas, and entertainment in-house would come from our own imagination and drawing boards.

Potential Awards

Each year the city could then apply for the Gold Ticket Award, the Oscars of the amusement industry. This is an annual set of awards given out by Amusement Today, a newspaper published for the amusement industry. The Golden Ticket Awards are the most prestigious awards in the amusement industry.

We could also apply for the International Applause Award. This is an exceptionally prestigious award that is only given every two years to a single theme park (worldwide) that demonstrates foresight, originality and creativity, plus sound business development and profitability.

Economies of Scope

The "economies of scope" reap rewards by operating in many different areas at once. The Palace would also include a custom car showroom in connection with the highest bidding auto dealership who would concentrate on a selection of displayed automobiles throughout the Palace. They would also provide us the official theme park vehicle.

The Palace would become a giant money supermarket and every time someone opens a door there would be money behind it for the city. It'll become a creative smash and we'll plant our city flag in the middle of Canada's tourism landscape and be minting our own money.

In addition to the park being a sweet tourist destination for local hipsters and thrill-heads, the economic benefit would be a great perk for Sudbury, which should be trying to lessen its economic dependence upon the hard hat mining industry. This multi-billion all-weather, mixed-use leisure and retail development would become a great place for people watching and celebrity spotting.

Paris has the Eiffel Tower, New York the Empire State Building, and now Sudbury would have Pyramid Palace; an extraordinary symbol for an extraordinary city. Wow Factor; 10/10.

Space Centre

Sudbury has a connection to the Apollo space program and a NASA Cosmosphere and Sudbury Aero-Space Port Centre should be constructed beside Science North. This would cover the entire current parking lot. Underground paid parking for coach and cars would be available and forever remove snow removal costs. Space travel will never end so the tourist experience will constantly change over the years.

The corner of Paris Street and Ramsay Lake Road would house a massive sphere; a crater filled "Moon" which would float in its own moat, be floodlit each evening, and be surrounded on the ground by a crater filled landscape. This info-sphere bubble would contain Lunar lander rides and a new IMAX Theater. New 3D IMAX technology includes wrap around screens and seats that move with the three-dimensional movie action.

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Twelve men have walked on the moon. Six billion want too. Now they can in our cosmic courtyard. Guests can wander around on our moon surface or slip into the driver's seat of one of the Apollo landing's famous lunar cruisers for a trip on the moon.

Many Canadians have flown into space but most astronauts, even the best, are no more memorable than really, really good bus drivers. It’s time to change this and our Space Centre would become home to the Canadian Astronaut Hall of Fame.

Astronaut footprints would be imprinted on the floor during construction. A Sudbury Wolves hockey jersey would be given to the next astronaut to wear in space than it would be showcased in our Space Port.

The Thurston Rusty Blakey Pavilion would depict the history of flight from the air balloon to space flight and offer helicopter and flight motion simulators rides. Several giant "paper" airplane sculptures folded out of yellow legal paper, newspaper, computer paper, notebook paper, and similar materials would hang from the ceiling. The planes would actually be made of aluminum covered with photographic laminates and measure as much as 16 feet long.

A replica of the Wright B Flyer, the world's first mass produced airplane will also be showcased and full-scale replicas of the Space Shuttle and Lunar Lander would be on site. The space shuttles soon to be retired, thus, we can attempt to acquire some official space equipment, such as rocket boosters or whatever NASA offers. We could try and acquire a real retired Snow Bird plane as well.

Visitors can operate the Canadarm2, a larger, more advanced version of the space shuttle's original robotic arm, the Sudbury made Canadrill, and design a land rover for Mars. Motion simulators would offer guests the experience of traveling aboard the space shuttle, the space station, and allow guests to retrieve a satellite, land the shuttle and walk on the moon.

Guests can also sit in and experience a mock up Apollo capsule, try on space helmets, touch a moon rock, view hands-on traveling NASA exhibits and historic artifacts and learn how airplane controls work in one of our wind tunnels. The moon smell display would recreate the gunpowder odor of moon dust.

Guests could select a planet, step on a scale and find out how much would they weigh on Jupiter and other planets. And everyone would be encourage to try the Spacesickness Experiment, where you stick your head inside what looks like a spinning Wonder Bread bag to make yourself woozy.

High resolution images, digital video clips and evocative space music will fill the centre and guests can pull 4 Gs in a trainer centrifuge. The FX2 simulator, seating up to two people, puts guests right inside a video game. Users chase through the universe as star warriors, they can fly an old-fashioned biplane, save the world as Captain Rio, or pilot one of Canada's Snowbird jets.

Our Top Gun Flight full motion F-18 fighter jet simulators feature fully interactive 360 degree motion on multiple axes, a 42" screen and realistic controls that let the pilot fly in any direction. The Morphis is a moving eight-person scenario simulator in a space-age capsule, featuring the latest surround sound technology and incredibly realistic digital imagery. Guests can choose from seven ride films, including: The Canyon Coaster, an exciting roller coaster in outer space; the Time Machine, surveying dinosaurs, ancient Egypt, and more; a tour of the International Space Station with astronaut David Scott, leader of the Apollo 15 mission, a tour inside the hardware of a computer to see how it works, or dodge aliens and asteroids and save the day for your allies in a Star Warriors adventure.

Mission control will have a Network Earth Space Cast viewing room to view future space launches, flights and landings. Of special interest will be displays that document the story of the space race between the US and Russia Mercury vs. Vostok, Gemini vs. Voskhod, and Apollo vs. Soyuz. Captain Planet and the Planeteers will be a program for our youngest visitors while the 5-day Future Astronaut Training Program will be offered for youths entering grades 7 through 10.

The work at our Sudbury Neutrino Observatory, the world's most advanced Neutrino Observatory, would also be explained and showcased in a mock up replica.

In the Space Shuttle Launch Experience guests won't have to battle silly looking aliens or perform virtual-reality stunts they've seen many times before. Instead, this simulator will take guests on an incredible journey only astronauts have experienced -- launching into orbit aboard a Space Shuttle.

Mission: SPACE is meant to simulate astronaut training for the first human mission to Mars aboard the fictional X-2 Deep Space Shuttle in 2036, the seventy-fifth anniversary of Yuri Gagarin becoming the first man in space. Riders are "trainees" at the fictional International Space Training Center (ISTC), where they are arranged into crews of four before watching an introductory video.

The mission includes liftoff from the ISTC, a slingshot around the moon for a gravity-assisted boost, a brief period of simulated hypersleep (to pass the lengthy time required to reach Mars) and a descent for landing on the Martian surface. As a training exercise, the mission contains several unexpected situations that add to the drama.

Upon conclusion of the training exercise, guests are invited to participate in activities at the Advanced Training Lab, a post-show area containing a group game called Mission: SPACE Race in which players perform tasks as Mission Control technicians aiding two X-2 spacecraft racing to return to Earth.; a space-themed play area for toddlers; a single-person, arcade-style game in which an astronaut explores Mars on foot; and a kiosk where brief video postcards can be created and sent via e-mail.

Star Trek: The Experience is a themed attraction based on the fictional Star Trek universe. Guests are transported to the future battling BORG and Klingon in two exciting attractions. This is an excellent attraction that is sure to thrill the Trekkie and non-Trekkie alike.

There is also a new next generation thrill ride technology out that no one has yet exploited to its full potential, and Sudbury will be the first in Canada. This consists have having automobile robot assembly arms with seats placed on a guided coaster rail that travels along in the dark surrounded by huge screens where a virtual reality space journey through the galaxy is provided by film images being projected on the screens.

An interesting twist to our space centre could be the conspiracy theory that NASA never really landed on the moon. There is much evidence to suggest that they never really did. As we know NASA did come to Sudbury before their 1972 mission and apparently Sudbury is the only place on earth that has the same composite material in rocks that are found on the moon and on Venus. And since all of the supposed moon landings were near craters that had been hit by meteorites and asteroids from outer space, just like the Sudbury impact was, it is conceivable to believe that the moon rocks shown from Apollo 16 are from Sudbury.

As early as 1946, Robert Dietz had called attention to the nickel-bearing Sudbury structure in Ontario as a feature that could have been formed by meteorite impact in Proterozoic time. In July 1971, astronauts John Young and Charles Duke got their first look at Sudbury's ancient impact breccias in situ. Eight months later, they would sample lunar rocks of this origin in the vicinity of their Apollo 16 landing site, thus demolishing geologist’s idea that the bright lunar highlands were scenes of significant volcanic activity.

Apollo 16 mission moon rocks can be viewed at Disneyland in California. Thus a Space Centre is a natural fit for our city. The city could create a new trend and sell Pet Moon Rocks. Our Moon rocks would come with a training manual, a step by step guide to having a happy relationship with your geological pet. What could be a dumber idea than selling pet moon rocks?

Not selling them. Wow Factor; 10/10.

Hollywood North

We've all heard of the term Hollywood North but there no actual bricks and mortar Hollywood North building or company. We could trademark the name and convert the two parking lots across from Bell Park into "Hollywood North," which would consist of a 5 level building in the shape of a guitar, although you would not notice the guitar shape from the ground level. A large 3 story tall neon guitar would be located in front of the building but the world's largest guitar, the building itself, can only be viewed from above. Naming rights can be sold to Gibson guitar or whoever wants to own it.

Scenic views overlooking Bell Park, Ramsey Lake, Science North, the amphitheatre and our new International Peace garden will be had from every level of the glass faced building. Underground paid parking would accommodate coaches and cars and provide the city with a new revenue stream while forever eliminating snow removal costs.

A glass faced skyway tube in the neck of the guitar would connect one area to the other over York Street. We would invite all inductees of all museums and Halls of Fame to attend their inductions and a sidewalk of stars on each level would contain their hand and footprints, which will create a huge buzz for sun-tinted tourists and star struck locals in our city. Hollywood North would be smoke free, handicapped accessible, with a Nursing Mothers' Room adjacent to our First Aid Room.

World Music Hall of Fame

The first level of the body of the guitar shaped building would contain a Welcome Centre, Studio Store, and The World Music Hall of Fame recognizing singers, songwriters and music executives of every musical genre. Rock, Hard rock, soft rock, classic rock, metal, heavy metal, thrash metal, pop, punk, punk pop, grunge, blues, R&B, reggae, soul, alternative, techno, house, rave, funk, disco, Latin, dance, ska, country, swing, trip hop, hip hop, mainstream rap, gangster rap, female rap, jazz rap, and all other hybrid rap genres.

Visitors could listen to songs that shaped the music world and read artist biographical information on interactive electronic castle kiosks while film clips, DVDs, photographs and animation dominate the 20-foot-tall screens.

Exhibit cases would display artifacts from world artists and the museum would also house a Back Stage Pass radio station. Interactive displays would allow visitors to experience the entire recording process and become familiar with various aspects of a musician's work, such as voice recording and playback, editing music and playing instruments. Guests can create their own sound effects while a music video makes them stars of their own lip-sync tapes.

And in connection with the World Music Hall of Fame guests could let the good times roll on our shake rattle and roller coaster ride set to music played at a body thumping volume in Pyramid Palace. The theme would be based upon Canada’s "Home and Native Bands," such as RUSH, The Tragically Hip, Neil Young, Shania Twain, etc.

This World Music Hall of Fame Museum will surpass the 5,000 square foot Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, the 60,000 square foot Canadian Music Hall of Fame in Toronto, and the Experience Music Project in Seattle in importance because we’d cover everything, not just rock & roll or Canadian music. We'd also have a rock & roll roller coasters in Pyramid Palace, something no other Hall of Fame has.

A next generation radio celebration music store and a Joe Cool clothing shop would be on location to provide the latest fashions from the hip and famous. And if the band agreed, our mascot for this attraction would be Eddie. Eddie, whose full name is Eddie the 'Ead or Edward the Head, also known as Edward the Great, is the mascot for the British heavy metal band, Iron Maiden. Eddie would roam around amusing guests.

Canadian Television, Motion Picture, Video Museum & Hall of Fame

The second level would house The Canadian Television and Motion Picture Museum and Hall of Fame and chronicle the history and technology of motion pictures, TV, and video. The Art of making movies would allow guests to co-star in a super star movie and create sound effects in the monster sound show.

The TV studio stunt show would pick its cast right out the crowd while Chilly Beach Studios could also be located in this attraction where guests can view Canada's version of the Simpson’s being created in real time.

The attraction would also house Sudbury Film School where instructors prepare patrons for the exciting and competitive world of film, television, music and stage. Students would leave here as actors, animators, directors, film editors, producers, sound engineers, composers, agents, publicists, directors of photography, screenwriters, sound editors, cameramen, videographers - all specialists in their chosen discipline.

The following government organizations may provide funds for career training to qualified applicants: Human Resource Development Canada for E.I. Recipients. The Workplace Safety and Insurance Board. Vocational Rehabilitation Services. Ontario Works for Social Services recipients. A provincial and federal government loan program may be available to applicants of full-time diploma programs, while Scholarships applied towards the tuition may be available to applicants that meet the scholarship criteria.

Canadian Comedian Hall of Fame

The third level would contain the Canadian Comedian Hall of Fame recognizing comics from around the world but the main showcase would focus on Canadian comics. The Canadian Comedy Awards are held in London Ontario but there are no bricks and mortal Canadian Comedy or comedian Hall of Fame. The Canadian cartoonist Hall of Fame is located in Guelph Ontario.

This level would also contain a dark ride in a waxworks museum. Madame Tussauds is the most famous name associated with wax museums. Guests would board a “limo” shaped motion based moving car which is equipped with a video screen for each row of seats. The video screen would act as a picture phone. Guests would be taken on a tour showcasing wax museum sets of all of the stars in our Hall of Fames.

The ride would be narrated by the limo chauffer on the picture phone. He would give an audio description of the stars guests are about to meet as they roam through the ride. The driver would provide the stars achievements, in addititon to anecdotes, little-known facts and other "infotainment."

Your picturephone rings.

Chauffeur: “Hey, Welcome to Hollywood North. Please be sure to keep your arms, legs, and egos inside the limo at all times. Our first stop is glamorous Rodeo Drive. There's Shania Twain..."

The fourth level would contain The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man attraction which was quickly recognized as the next generation in moving vehicle rides and motion picture entertainment. This ride will blow your mind as it makes a full-tilt assault on the senses. Spider-Man appears out of nowhere and lands with an audible and tactile thud on the moving vehicle. Spider-Man is the everything-but-the-kitchen-sink of high-tech theme park attractions. If the rights are not provided to us to host Spiderman we would create a "Captain Canuck Guardian of the North" version of this ride or a "Johnny Canuck" ride using the same technology. Both are legendary Canadian cartoon comic book super heroes.

Sudbury Art Park Museum

The fifth level would house The Sudbury Art Park Museum with an art colony atmosphere consisting of artisan's areas, a comic book store, the Museum of Photography, Museum of Holography, Museum of Animation and Cartoon Art, Museum of Visual Arts, Museum of Fine Art, Museum of Modern Art, Museum of Decorative Art, Art Museum of Sport, and Museum of Contemporary Art, with rotating North American exhibits moved in and out on an annual basis. The Artropolis floor would contain three-dimensional artwork, and also the Speed of Art, which consists of 25 activity stations that let visitors create their own masterpieces.

The art on your fridge right now is priceless, and some of it would also be showcased, in addition to our festival and fair art posters. The museum would also house MCTV News weather helper artwork. Now, not only will parents bring their kids to view their art work in Sudbury’s Art Centre, but kids will also want to bring their friends to see it. These kids will come back in 20 years to see their own artwork, and they’ll also come back again in 30 years to show their own children.

The Museum would also be home to an artistic peel and stick mailable bumper sticker, art prism decal manufacturer, a potential multi million $ venture. Stickers cost anywhere from 2 $ to 10 $ and every city, tourist spot, and many businesses use stickers. Our large range of top shelf vinyl cut stickers would be of the highest quality and easily applied to any smooth clean non-porous surface, such as your skateboard, snowboard, surfboard wakeboard, jet ski, doors, walls, windows, toolbox, coolers, cars, boats, snowmobile; almost anything you want to personalize. And with Internet ordering, Pay Pal capabilities and regular post delivery, there is little expense incurred in delivery cost.

Having the art museum in this location will increase foot traffic and help the museum get its financial act together, as they repeated incur an annual deficit. This would also free up the Bell Mansion for some new profitable attraction.

Hall of Premiers & Prime Ministers

In the neck of the guitar would be the Hall of Premiers and Prime Ministers and consist of Madame Tussaud wax figures of Ontario Premiers and Canadian Prime Ministers, with hand and foot print casts of living members. This walk of wax would also house Madame Tussaud wax figures of the Royal Family, and also become home to Sudbury’s archive. The Edison building can than be used for some other profitable venture, thus saving the city over 900 $ a day in operating costs.

The Hall would contain a recreation of the façade of Parliament Hill in Ottawa on one side while Queens Park would grace the other wall. The Hall would also tell the history of the making of the Canadian, Provincial and Territorial flags, and the history of War Plan Red, America’s planned invasion of Canada, including Sudbury. The Hall would also house a War Memorial.

The ceiling of the Hall would contain a Viva Vision’s projection canopy and light show system that displays a floating sky parade of vintage local, Ontario and Canadian images and blends in high tech psychedelic light show wonderment with sound. New Viva Vision shows would be created each year and rotated in and out.

Recording Studio

In the headstock of the guitar would be the Shania Twain Mutt Lange Recording Studio, if they agree, designed and built to Mutt Lange specifications at our expense. We could also ask Shania Twain and Mutt Lange to write and record a few Sudbury Tourism Jingles for promotional purposes, since Shania is a former Sudbury resident. The studio would be open to local talent as well as established recording artists. Sudbury would aggressively pursue world-recording artists to record here with the goal of winning a studio TEC Award and getting our city name on a Juno, American Music Award &/or Grammy winning recording artist’s record. Or, better yet, the studio would hopefully turn a Sudburian into the next Shania Twain.

The Studio Suite is a self-contained environment with a luxurious private lounge overlooking the lake and Hotel Casino Marina resort; a setting conducive to relaxed creativity. The room would be a large, with a three-way modular tracking room and two smaller isolation booths to the side. The room would accommodate up to 65 musicians. Amenities would include a kitchenette, pool table and private bathroom, wireless Internet and directly accessibility from the studio for maximum privacy. The studio would be hard wired to the new amphitheatre (described below) allowing the artists who perform there to easily create albums live from Sudbury! This studio could be in New York City or L.A. – if it weren’t in Sudbury.

We would also create a "Ministry of Music Record Label." We could create a Ministry of Music radio station either online or full broadcast from Hollywood North. We would have the Ministry of Music Nightclub in Pyramid Palace, and the capability to record live concerts from the new amphitheatres. In addition to brochure ware, owning our own radio station would allow Sudbury to promote itself in a media economy at no cost.

Sky Way Tower

In the center sound hole of the body of the guitar would be a 75-story tall Sky Way Tower and the top of the tower would be sphere shaped like a microphone to compliment the guitar below. Tower naming rights would be sold. The Tower would be designed to ensure that it becomes a member of the World Federation of Great Towers, next to, among others, the CN Tower in Toronto, and the Empire State Building in New York City.

The World Federation of Great Towers (WFGT) is an association of tall towers and skyscrapers from around the world. The key criterion for inclusion in the WFGT is that the building in question must have a public observation deck. Created in 1989, the World Federation of Great Towers is an association of international monuments working together to foster awareness and develop local and international opportunities for promotion and data exchange among members.

The goal of the WFGT views this interest as a unique opportunity to promote dialogue among the towers on issues such as improving tower management and generating more traffic and revenues. Increased interest and a growing membership have made the Federation a genuine communications network. There are 26 towers that have been recognized as members of WFGT.

The WFGT organization will reinforce the concept of the Tower Landmark as being a tourism destination point and being a significant market and travel decision driver. The WFGT members receive over 20 million visitors annually, representing a unique opportunity for collecting important tourist information. The WFGT hosts an annual conference for the delegates and Sudbury would become home to the conference every now and again.

For stability the tower would be built on a concrete block of 4,200,000 lbs four stories underground so that the centre of gravity is below ground. The tower would weight 100,000 tonnes, withstand wind pressures of 120 miles an hour and a 8 magnitude earthquake. The last bolt to be fastened to the tower would be made of gold to signify the achievement, and the outside of the sphere would be illuminated with stars at night and visible from many points in the city.

Guests travel from the ground to the tower top via 4 high speed double-deck glass-fronted Sky-Rise elevators that reach the observation deck in approximately 35 seconds. The Toshiba Elevator and Building Systems Corporation would provide the world's fastest glass-fronted elevators, which provide guests a breath-taking view as they race upwards to the seven-story geodesic sphere at a speed of 37.5 miles per hour (60.4 km per hour or 16.83 metres per second), so even the elevator ride would be a good time!

The lift's acceleration would never cause any problems. The change of air pressure does, though. After just 100 metres, the well-known sensation of popping ears sets in. The lift shafts would be designed to be connected by a door so that if one of them malfunctions, passengers can get into the other lift. Another lift is available to transport technical equipment and employees to their workplaces at the top of the sphere.

A 750-foot glass faced drop zone free fall Hellevator stunt ride would be encased in Sky Way Tower and give riders the sensation of leaping from a 75-story building at 60 miles per hour, which will be the highest and fastest free fall ride in the world. The motor assisted drop actually forces the elevator down faster than free fall. The use of sounds, pitch darkness, visual effects and other tricks will ratchet up thrills, screams and sheer fun. The first ride to the top, the first climb of the stairs, the first ride on the rides, and the first to dine in our restaurant would all be sold to the highest bidder.

The tower would be the second tallest tower in Canada, the 10th tallest towers in the world, and every degree of the 360º view from the top would command your attention. The Tower would have 24 carat (100%) gold plated glass windows and, on a clear day, visitors can soak up the panoramic views and see up to 80 kilometres all around. From Killarney and the North Channel of Georgian Bay to the South, Espanola to the West, Past Capreol to the North, and Warren to the East.

The tower would be known as the most romantic setting for special occasions in Sudbury, and become Sudbury’s top marriage proposal location. This magnificent tower would also double as Sudbury’s best known ambassador.

However, the tower is not just another tall building, telecommunication tower or tourist attraction. The tower would also become a magnet for extreme sports enthusiasts, particularly ‘BASE’ (building, antennas, span, earth) jumpers.

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Unlike other cities, Sudbury will be proud to present its annual signature extreme sport event; the International Jump Off. Every year daredevils would be invited to make repeated jumps from the tower and make three second free falls before opening their chutes, leaving spectators breathless.

Guests can even JUMP off the tower themselves, why watch everyone else have all the fun! Guest would fall at approximately 50 miles per hour for around 11 seconds before slowing in the last few meters to land gently. The ground rush would be unbeatable! This Occupational Health and Safety approved device means jumpers can "base-jump by wire" falling for approximately 16 seconds in total. Unlike bungee jumping, there is no hanging upside down or bouncing around. You simply fall fast and smooth... for 75 stories!

The tethered Sky Jump from the tower's outer rim would be successfully enlisted as the "World's Highest Commercial Decelerator Descent." Our guests would also be able to Bungee jump from the tower and would rebound 30 metres, and the tower will be enlisted as the "World's Highest Commercial Bungy Jump Facility." Two world records, and the inaugural Jumps would be sold to the highest bidder.

Guests can also discover the Spiderman in them by climbing 100 feet up the concrete shaft of the tower, the world's highest artificial climbing wall. Another world record. Climbers could choose from 3 routes of various difficulty.

The tower would also become the home of the International Towerthon Challenge. This Tower Run Race Championship requires runners to climb the stairs of the tower as quick as possible. Due to the support from World Federation of the Great Tower, this international event would attract many of the world's best tower runners.

On many occasions each year the tower would be used to launch fireworks and locals would have a new vantage point to watch the show, from atop of the tower, for an extra fee of course!

The tower would be illuminated nightly with coloured lights. The lighting concept will highlight the architectural beauty of the tower, including the tower shaft, while the tower head will sparkle at night.

Each week the lights on the tower would cycle through the seven colours of the spectrum: Monday - Red. Tuesday - Orange. Wednesday - Yellow. Thursday - Green. Friday - Blue. Saturday - Indigo. Sunday - Purple. The cycle would evoke the symbolism of rainbows as bridges linking earth to sky and earth's peoples to one another. The pattern further connects the tower with the cycles of time. The tower would also have a sound and light show which would be synchronized with a local FM radio station so everyone anywhere can tune in and enjoy it.

A natural gas-fired cauldron would be located at the top of the tower. The flame in it would be lit and burn during special events such as Canada Day, the visit of royalty and other city or Ontario celebrations. The flame consumes 850 cubic metres of natural gas every hour. The tower would have its Grand Opening Day on Sudbury’s anniversary and we’d give this city her biggest birthday candle ever! Eventually, a 30 story antenna could be added, which would increase the tower’s height by another 300 feet.

All major Broadcast, AM, FM and DAB Radio stations as well as wireless service would be provided the opportunity to lease space for their telecommunication transmissions. Technical Tour Packages of the tower would be offered. The itinerary would include a welcome briefing, a documentary session on of the making of the tower, a tour of the technical area, telecommunication area, and a tower souvenir.

From various levers of the tower, guests just don't just see the sights, they can hear them! Soundscope talking telescopes give guests sound effects so real you'd swear you were there to hear the fans cheering in the Sudbury arena. Guest’s can choose the narration in nine languages.

Guests can use the magnification power of our Swarovski Telescopes, which magically empowers you to spot a friend a couple of miles away. And guests don’t have to guess what you’re looking at either. Colourful, imaginative environmental graphics around the outer edge of the level, and the information displays along the interior core are filled with descriptive data and delightful trivia.

At the press of a button, visitors can enjoy comprehensive information of the city skyline in 12 other locations by using the Audio Guide. The Audio Guide will be able to provide comprehensive information of the City Skyline while one enjoys the breathtaking views of the city. The Audio Guide would be available in nine languages.

Our Scene to Believe Digital Studio would be a filmless system that captures images with a high resolution camera. These images are then instantly superimposed into specially created backgrounds. Visitors can bring their family and friends to this amazing studio for simply out-of-this-world photographs!

Guests can also enjoy the artwork located throughout the tower and in the dine and drink saloons, and all of the artwork would be available for purchase. Everyone gets the star treatment at Sky Way Tower and webcams from every level would showcase the city to the world and ensures all "Virtual Tourists" are treated as warmly and as openly as the "Reality Based Tourists" who visit us each year!

The first level in the sphere would be the observation deck where guests would be provided a God's eye view of the various surrounding lakes, topography and city architecture. Indoor glass floored sections would provide guests the opportunity to see the shape of the guitar below. The Sky and Bungee Jumping would also take place from this level and those who really want to take a walk on the wild side can stroll The Avenue of Fear.

The Avenue of Fear allows guests to take a thrilling walking tour around 3/4 of the outer rim of the building on a 4 inch thick glass floor 75 stories up to have their newest MySpace photograph taken against the city skyline. With only a glass wall in front, visitors would be treated to the unusual experience of literally being suspended in mid-air. Guests who dare look down would not only see the guitar shaped building below, but also see an optical illusion, as the shaft on the Tower looks as though it bends away from you.

Cameras or personal items of any kind would not be allowed to be taken out, though for a nominal fee you may of course purchase photos taken by mounted cameras. Lockers would be provided for personal belongings while strolling this Avenue of Fear.

But if you think thats' scary, now imagine taking a stroll around the outer rim on a 4 foot wide walkway 750 feet up with no handrail. Now you can scare yourself silly as you walk 1/4 of the way around the tower using the world's first overhead safety system that stands in place of the missing handrails, but leaves all of the scariness intact.

The center area of this level would be a virtual reality park containing high-resolution virtual reality simulator rides like James Bond License to Thrill, Days of Thunder, and Ride over Niagara Falls.

The second level of the sphere would house a year round “What's Glowing On” glow in the dark mini putt golf course and arcade playdium. Two virtual reality golf course simulators would also be available covering 28 of the best golf courses on earth. Players would pit their skills against PGA Professionals and could shoot a round against Tiger Woods!

The third level would contain a roller-skating and inline skating rink with high tech lighting and body thumping sound system. During the Christmas Holiday's this level would be turned into an ice skating rink over 70 stories in the sky, and be like no other in the world. In fact, we would now have the highest mini putt, roller-skating, roller-blade and ice-skating rink in the world.

The fourth level would contain a revolving restaurants and after-dark weekend nightclubs (possibly a House of Blues, B.B. King Blues Club, Planet Hollywood or Hard Rock Cafe) offering dancing, local bands, show business greats and near-greats. The Lounge’s would offer the most beautiful picture postcard scenery of Sudbury as well as some of the most extraordinary co<ktails.

The restaurant would rotate at the rate of one revolution every 55 minutes. The rooms can be rented out for private functions for an additional revenue source. Our kitchen would be equipped with the latest technology in induction cooking. All material, including furnishings, are designed to be fireproof or fire resistant. There is an extensive sprinkler network employing a deluge system. The network would cover every area of the building, including the communications level.

As well the elevators are external, separated by concrete walls with a fire rating conforming to fire code. In the unlikely case of fire in the sphere, all visitors can escape via the fire exit stairwell. And, despite the height of the Tower, just underneath the sphere there are two evacuation slides, each of which can carry up to 400 people safely to the ground.

Guests can buy front-of-the-line passes or VIP Package for an additional fee. A dress to impress smart casual attire policy would be imposed after 5 p.m. No hats, t-shirts, tank tops, muscle-tees, baggy pants, ripped, torn or frayed clothing, sandals, flip flops, work boots, athletic or gym wear of any type would not be allowed.

The revolving restaurant would have a second floor for the nightclub. An elevator and giant spiral staircase would connect the two floors, and climbing it puts you face-to-face with some of the club’s go-go dancers, showgirls and guys. The bathrooms would have a view right out-of-this-world!

No matter how you cut it, 72 ounces is 4 1/2 pounds. That's a lot of meat. In an upscale steakhouse chain, that’s 4 1/2 pounds would cost you around $200. Here, it’s free. If you can eat it all in an hour. While everyone else in the restaurant watches. Now here's the deal. It's not just a 72 oz. steak you have to eat in an hour. You have to eat a 72 oz. steak dinner. That means a salad, a potato, and a roll are included. They are normal-sized, however.

If you can't finish it all within one hour, the entire dinner will cost you 150 $. If you do finish it you're picture is entered into our 72 oz. Hall of Fame. A Sky Way Tower wallet sized city certificate would also be issued to prove you did it.

The sixth level would be the technical, service and telecommunication floor. The broadcaster room and power room also provides services for city's meteorology, environmental protection, transportation, emergency rescue services, fire protection, radio station equipment and communication.

This level would also house 10 Space Hotel room Suites, the highest hotel rooms in Canada! The Tower would also have a mascot, and our mascot would be named by the results of a contest held for all children aged 12 or younger. The sixth floor of the tower would be the mascot's official home.

The seventh and top level would house The Sudbury Optical Astronomy and Celestial Planetarium. The Planetarium would be home to a radio station and a weather station where guests can see themselves in a weather forecast. Satellite hook ups, hands on exhibits, astronomy computer games, a heliostat and solar and reflecting telescopes would be available to view the planets and sunspots. Demonstrations of telescope functions would be taught and programs to show what to look for in the night sky, including the International Space Station, would run daily.

Sky Over Sudbury Astronomy Show would seat 200 and premiere an inner cosmos and outer space omni-verse show. One hundred 70-millimeter Multiple Nova Star projectors and 100 speaker sound system would create the moon, planets, dawn, twilight, lightening storm, laser concerts, and a 10,000 star movement show on a 76-foot diameter omni-domed hemispheric screen in the Moonbow Omni-sphere Laserium. Its smooth, flat black interior eliminates depth perception, while laser projectors create and move the stars and planets. The room would also be our Wedding Chapel in the Sky.

Out of this World gift shop would offer up gifts, clothing and usual and un-usual souvenirs, including our pet moon rocks and condoms. Guests can even take the tower experience home with them as CD-ROMs, DVDs, videos, and architectural guides will reveal the towers entire history.

Visitors can also mail postcards and letters from here, Canada’s highest mail box! And if guests ran out of room in their suitcase or decided they wanted that memento they didn’t buy while they were here, our network economic e-tailing store would allow click happy shoppers to purchase anything from our Out of this World online store.

And to top it all off, built into the top of the sphere would be the most extreme adrenaline pumping ride that would leave guests breathless. Extending 70 feet over the edge of the tower, the inverted centrifuge spins passengers at up to three Gs. And as the speed increases, riders plummet over the edge of the tower in escape-proof seats to an angle of 70 degrees, with nothing to look at but the city more than 750 feet below.

One of the best features of ride is its diversity. Because it is completely programmable by the operator with more than 100 ride variations, passengers can go on it time and again, enjoying a different experience each time. The ride would also have a manual return mechanism in case of power failure. This ride would not operate in the winter, unless some crazies demand it.

Hotel Casino Marina Resort

Three lake front passive solar 21st century five Star, five Diamond, eco-friendly architecturally designed pet friendly boutique lifestyle "Condotel" towers consisting of 5,000 to 10,000 rooms with lavish amenities and elegant decor should be constructed beside Science North. An 8,000 room hotel would make it the largest hotel in the world.

A skyline speaks volumes about a city and we would tattoo our skyline with these triple towers. The more flights, the more bragging and boasting rights, and these towers would make an impressive visual impact and give Sudbury more eye appeal.

The triple towers would begin at the boat launch and work there way back towards Science North. Every hotel room in the triplet towers would be smoke free. One properly vented "Smoketorium" room would be located on each floor for those who wish to smoke.

The towers would also house an office park for lease (annual rent), residential condominiums for sale (annual property taxes), the Sudbury Hall and Walk of Fame, the casino, (annual rent and slot revenue), and up to a 100,000 square foot Convention, Trade and Visitors Bureau.

The towers would consist of two types of condo-hotel suites for sale. Regular condo-hotel suites and super-suites. The super-suites will be on the upper floors. In the Chinese culture, the number four is considered bad luck. With this in mind, the towers would have no tower floors that start with four. The elevators count 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 etc., and 38, 39, 50, 51 etc.

A vacation Timeshare ownership element would allow 1,000 hotel rooms to be made available to guests who wish to own a small piece of this remarkable property. Part of the hotel room count would be located in Sky Way Tower, as described previously, and at Pyramid Palace, Sportsylvania, the Space Centre, and the Motor Sports Complex, as described below.

The hotel would provide every accommodation imaginable with a high quality sleep system and become the last word in luxury. Each guest room would be themed, from the luxury 10,000 square foot Queen's Suite with it's own pool, Prime Minister's Suite, Governor General Suite, Premiers Suite, Spa Suites, Spa Fireplace Suites, Two-Bedroom Family Suite, One-Bedroom suite, to the traditional Guest Suites. A visiting guest can return time and time again without having the same room experience.

The hotel / sno-tel would also offer ice lodge hotel rooms and igloos outdoors in the winter and in Slopeopolis year round. Guests could also stay in a sky cabin chalet in the ski hall, and snow caves in the mountain. Guests could spend an evening in our mountaineer climbing tents while hanging from the face of the Mount Horn.

Guests could also spend a night in our Treesort; a tree house cabin in the rainforest trees in Dino World at Pyramid Palace. Those who want to sleep under the ground rather than under the stars would be able to experience a unique hideaway in two subterranean rooms underground at Cave Haven in Pyramid Palace. Kids would also be allowed to sleep overnight with the sharks on an air mattress in the glide path of our Seaquarium.

Visitors could spend an evening or two in our underwater SeaRooms below the Seaquarium, which is a floating residence with an entire floor underwater. Large acrylic windows would provide a panoramic view of the subsea world. Guests can spend a night in our mocked up Space Shuttle, International Space Station or Lunar Lander. They could also spend a night in a tepee, safari hut or a Balinese hut on the beach in our water wave park. No mosquitoes, no snakes, and it will certainly not rain!

The pet friendly green hotel would offer state-of-the-art amenities and personalized value, such as airport limo and helicopter shuttle, energy gym, 4 p.m. check out time, organic cotton towels, satin sheets, energy saving motion room and hall way lighting, free business office amenities in every room, such as a desk, fax, computer, cable Internet, X-box 360 with game rental service, and free use of a HP photo smart digital camera and printer service during their stay. Customers will put a 100% refundable deposit on camera and pay for prints only. Free use of a video camera on the same 100% refundable deposit basis would also be provided and customers will buy DVDs of their recordings.

Pre-registered guests would only need to pick up a smart card key when they arrive eliminating the paper and time intensive arrival process. Electric Rolls Royce style golf carts would transport arriving guests to their hotel tower elevators. Golf cart car naming rights would also be sold to the highest auto manufacturer bidder.

In partnership with our hotel room suppliers, every item in the room, from the mattress to marble countertop, would be available for purchase and delivery to guests home North America wide, thus guests are test-driving our products while they visit us. The hotel would have window film to reduce heating and cooling loads, low flush toilets, low flow showerheads and sink aerators, and recycled green water, which is hand washing and shower water, would be used to flush toilets.

Towel rack hangers and bed sheet changing linen cards will allow guests to select the option of reusing towels and sheets more than once. Each room balcony would have a patented process called balcony glazing. Once installed it will expand the living space by fitting balconies with sliding glass panels that can be easily opened or closed extending the time the balcony can be used during the spring and fall.

Guests could also unwind at our modestly priced Tranquility Spa and Wellness Center. This magical mood spa setting would be Spa-licious, and guests could enjoy steam baths, dry saunas, therapeutic baths and even radiant heat rooms. We would also offer a full range of massages, including traditional massage, Thai massage and underwater massage aquatic therapy. Now, the non-snobs and have-somes can afford what the have-everything’s have, without mortgaging their futures. Beauty for the least!

We all need inner peace and meditation helps us achieve it. When we meditate, we reach within ourselves, into our subconscious. Feeling of tension, fear and stress melt away, and we become alert and focused; and our meditation rooms in the Asia House would provide the perfect setting.

The city would hold our Lake Ramsay ice melting contest online for free. This would become a world wide contest where the winner receives two nights free at our hotel. Transportation not included.

This new hotel would consist of a laundry service and, for an additional revenue source, we can "contract-in" all of Algoma Hospital's, the new hospice, and the one site hospital's laundry, which are located right across the street and down Ramsay Lake Road.

The hotel would be a partnership with a major hotel chain such as Embassy Suites, Hilton, Hyatt, Omni or Delta, or owned outright by the city. A partnership works best, however, due to the expertise management a hotel chain provides and the property taxes they would pay. The city would have a set amount of rooms to bring visitors to Sudbury on a nightly basis.

The city would invite the Queen to be our first registered hotel guest followed by the Prime Minister, Governor General the Premier and Shania Twain and Mutt Lange. Sudbury’s name would become a name synonymous with luxury hospitality. Ideally suited for short, mid term and extended stays.

And for those late nights, our guests can enjoy our online gaming activities right from their own suite. Guests can play for prizes not money. Additionally, we would set up an arrangement with an online casino and take a percentage of the profit that casino makes from out the customers we provide them.

Casino

The casino needs to be moved to the hotel-resort and be connected to a newly constructed amphitheatre beside Science North. The casino would be open 24/7/365.25 and offer Vegas style entertainment with gaming tables, slots, sports bar / restaurant, bingo and keno hall, thus creating new jobs. Pit bosses, dealers, etc. will be hired. The province originally wanted a commercial casino in Sudbury, and not a race track slot facility anyway.

Currently the province is paying rent to the racetrack owner for casino space when they can be paying rent to the city. Currently the casino comps casino guest's food, and the track owner is making a huge profit; but now this profit would come to the city. For instance, on Saturday night the track owner charges 34 $ a plate for a 15 $ plate of food and this 17 $ a plate profit would now end up in the city's cash register.

Currently the casino receives no snowmobile customer traffic; now it would as Ramsay Lake in on the snowmobile trail. The racetrack will continue to survive on its own and horse racers would be provided a larger chunk of change for prize money because the casino will now be open 24/7 and have more traffic and new revenue from tables being added.

Sudbury Hall of Fame

A Sudbury Hall and Walk of Fame would also be connected to the hotel resort casino. When inductees like Alex Trebek, Shania Twain, Alex Baumann, Jay Cochrane, Paul Paul Desmarais, etc., are inducted to our new Hall of Fame it will draw a crowd and create a huge street level buzz for our city.

Amphitheatre

The current plans to build a 1000+ seat music hall downtown is going to be a major money losing flop without being connected to the casino. The Sudbury arena isn't much a concert hall either, as it is a solar-powered barbecue.

Thus, a luxurious 1,200 seat circular show room with high-tech lighting, video and sound systems, and no seat in the three-level facility farther than 120 feet away from the stage, would be connected to the hotel and create an up close and personal experience for concert viewers. The ground floor would accommodate either seated or standing audiences, while all three levels feature beverage stations and restrooms.

Twenty private and semi-private sky boxes would offer exclusive bars, lounges and restrooms. The action on stage would be broadcast with amazing clarity across two 14-foot by 16-foot video screens while powerful 60 JBL Vertec series loudspeakers rock the house. Sunday morning would boast a church service while the hotel cafe's provide a gospel brunch.

Additionally, a 14,000 seat multi-balcony acoustically superior and architecturally designed virtual reality atmospheric amphitheatre with revolving stage, glass walls, a ceiling replete with blinking stars and floating clouds, would also be connected to the hotel and overlook the lake and Science North.

A curtain system would vary the capacity from 500 to14,000, creating a showcase for major all-ages one-night concert events or more intimate production shows. The venue would also have the capability of hosting Boxing matches and Ultimate Fighting Championship fights, and both venues would have the friendliest multi lingual barkeeps, severs and staff this side of anywhere; and be a great place for star-gazing!

The amphitheatre would have sophisticated audio/video capabilities including two LED video screens and a full LED wrap-around video system, the first of its kind in Canada. In addition, all sight lines are unimpeded and the comfortable facility would have oversized seating and spacious rows making every event enjoyable for all.

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