City unveils plans for Sutherland Group building

City officials unveiled their plans last night for part of the former Ministry of Transportation site on Old Garden River Road to be occupied by the Sutherland Group.

A rendering by architect Bruce Caughill (shown) depicts a new $3-million building with a stuccoed exterior similar to the new Arby's on Great Northern Road, which Caughhill also designed.

Sutherland Group Ltd. of Rochester, New York plans to create 350 technical support jobs in the new building, which it will lease from the Sault Ste. Marie Economic Development Corp.

Sutherland's client is a high-end computer company whose name will be recognized by most Saultites, EDC President and Chief Executive Officer Bruce Strapp told a neighbourhood meeting last night.

Ten-year lease

Tenders for the $3 million EDC-owned building close next Tuesday, the meeting was told.

Sutherland has signed a 10-year lease on the MTO location.

Sutherland has also announced it's creating another 330 to 340 technical support jobs in the former White Rose building on Trunk Road.

The client there is Gateway Inc. of Poway, California, best known for the cow-themed boxes in which it ships its computers.

SooToday.com Big Picture coverage

We have three Big Pictures of the plans for the former MTO site unveiled last night.

To view them, please click on the links below. In each case, you'll need to use your browser's scroll buttons to view the entire image.

New building to be built for Sutherland Group Site plan for Sutherland Group E-commerce centre Development plan for entire MTO site

Adjacent to Sault Star

The location of the new Sutherland Group building is between the existing Sault Star location and the proposed new fire hall/EMS location.

City officials say the two uses of the property are compatible and the site would have separate entrances for Sutherland and the fire department.