The Toronto area should be closer to getting a big-league arena, as GTA Sports and Entertainment Chairman and CEO Graeme Roustan submitted the application to the City of Markham on Wednesday.
The application will allow the City of Markham - just northeast of Toronto - to examine the design, the plans' sustainability and the technical aspects of the proposed GTA Centre. Once they get approval of the application, the City of Markham will issue a building permit and construction can begin on the $325 million venue.
Plans for the new arena were unveiled at a council meeting in June. The arena is expected to seat over 20,000 with the city responsible for $162.5 million toward the final tally.
"I have been on the road, and the buzz about the GTA centre here in Markham is all over North America," Roustan told the Toronto Star in June. "It's a very exciting project and I'm very excited to be a part of it."
Roustan had said he would like to begin construction in 2014 and have the arena completed in time to host the World Junior Hockey Championship in 2015.
