Gateway Casinos has unveiled its plans to invest $36-million in a new Chatham casino that will be about three times the size of the Dresden Slots.
At a news conference held on Wednesday at the John D. Bradley Convention Centre, representatives of the new casino shared the latest developments of the project.
Gateway Casinos & Entertainment Limited CEO Tony Santo says construction on Cascades Casino is expected to begin this spring, with an expected competition date of mid-2019. It is proposed that the casino will be built at 615 Richmond St. in Chatham beside the John D. Bradley Convention Centre.
Santo says the new facility will be more than just a casino.
"We develop our food and beverage for people to come and enjoy, whether they gamble or not that's okay," says Santo. "The way we will design this facility is you can walk in and one side will be the restaurants and the other side will be the casino."
The proposed casino will feature over 300 slots and ten table games, with two of Gateway's signature restaurant brands MATCH Eatery & Public House and The Buffet.
Santo also assures residents that there won't be any issues finding parking at the new casino. He says cross-parking agreements have been made with the municipality, the hotel, and at the new site.
"Cascades Casino" in Chatham will be Gateway's first new build in Ontario.
"It had to do with the development plans and the master plan that the mayor has in mind. It's close to the convention centre and also the hotel, which is a good fit for us," explains Santo. "Then it's past reputation of this corner being a very busy corner and being an entertainment area of Chatham we just felt like it fit in really well."
Santo says Mayor Randy Hope has been the fastest to move things along compared to the other communities he's worked with.
He says the new casino will be beneficial to not only Chatham-Kent's employment by creating up to 200 new jobs, but the municipality will get a boost to its coffers too.
"There is a portion of gaming dollars that the OLG gives to the city of Chatham. When you think about twice the number of slot machines and table games... the opportunity of it increasing is extremely positive," he says.
The CEO says Gateway Casinos is also looking at North Bay, Kenora, Collingwood/Wasaga as well for future potential builds.
Gateway Casinos also plans to work with the local horse racing industry.
"We have a horse racing plan that our team has put together that allows us to help sponsor some of the races and some of the purses," he says.