Some businesses in Chatham-Kent have chosen to remain closed a little longer than others, but the decision to do so may be costly for the municipality.
Most of the province moved into Phase 3 of reopening on Friday. The plan first announced by the Ontario government and then approved by Chatham-Kent's Medical Officer of Health allows gaming halls, horse racing venues, and casinos to reopen (but without table games).
Cascades Casino Chatham announced earlier this week that it would not reopen yet in order to get health and safety measures in place.
However, with no estimate as to when the casino will reopen, concerns are mounting from a municipal standpoint.
During a teleconference on Thursday, CAO Don Shropshire said in terms of bringing in revenue, the delay in reopening Cascades Casino will have an impact as the municipality looks to address the budget deficit, which is currently around the $3 million mark.
"The projected revenue [from Cascades Casino] is in the order of $1.5-1.6 million per year," he said. "Doing the math, it's over $100,000 a month and every time they're closed we're going to have that lost revenue."
Shropshire said the projected hit in revenue has been included in financial reports to council.
"That's a significant part of what we're considering the financial burden we're going to have to overcome and deal with as part of the COVID-19 response," said Shropshire.
The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation said back in April that the closure of casinos would affect the July 2020 payment. The latest payment issued to the Municipality of Chatham-Kent was $328,430 for the time between January 1 and March 31, 2020.
Shropshire said they will be happy once Cascades Casino reopens.
"Like any economic activity or business in town, the sooner they get back to more normal operations the better," he said. "They're obviously going to make their best business decision for them to safeguard the clients and their staff as well as restarting their business."
In the meantime, residents longing for a form of entertainment can visit Riverview Gaming Centre as it is now open.
However, due to restrictions on the number of people allowed in at once, there will be no bingo sessions. For now, the gaming centre is open for TapTix play and Play-On-Demand games only.
"We can not operate a regular Bingo session while following the max capacity of 50 customers. We are very frustrated with this decision," read a post on Riverview Gaming Centre's Facebook page. "We have spent a great deal of time, energy and money to develop a plan that includes strict physical distancing while allowing 17 customers to play TapTix and 81 customers to play Bingo. Unfortunately, we are not able to offer our loyal customers regular Bingo sessions at this time."
Nevertheless, the gaming centre said it was excited to reopen and look forward to future announcements. Riverview Gaming Centre will be open from 10 a.m. until 10 p.m.
As for horse racing, officials at the Dresden Raceway said they are working with the public health unit in order to have fans return to the track.
"This Sunday, July 19, we will not be ready to accommodate fans so no fans will be allowed on the grounds until Sunday, July 26," read a post on the Dresden Raceway's Facebook page.
According to the post, the Dresden Agricultural Society board of directors has decided to allow fans in designated areas during the last two weeks of racing at the end of July and the beginning of August. Fifty fans will be allowed in the parking lot on the grandstand side and 50 fans on the backstretch between the back entrance and the entrance to the barn area. Live wagering will be offered. Fans will be required to wear a mask and physical distancing will be monitored.