On Wednesday (March 28), Gateway Casinos & Entertainment Limited confirmed that it is planning for its new Cascades casino in Chatham-Kent to open in mid-2019. The company has officially stated that its gaming operations at Dresden Raceway will cease operating once the Chatham location is up and running.
Gateway’s announcement corresponded with a Wednesday press conference that included Gateway CEO Tony Santo, company spokesman Rob Mitchell, and Chatham-Kent Mayor Randy Hope, among others. Construction is expected to get underway this spring.
The news in regard to Dresden came as a bit of a surprise to some, as a Gateway spokesman who had gone on the record with Chatham This Week last November had commented that the slots would be staying in Dresden until at least 2020.
An artistic rendering of the proposed Cascades casino in Chatham-Kent (Image courtesy Gateway Casinos & Entertainment Limited)
Gateway has stated that it expects to invest $36 million into the new Cascades casino. The proposed new casino is expected to feature over 300 slots, 10 table games, and feature Gateway’s signature restaurant brands ‘MATCH Eatery & Public House’ and ‘The Buffet.’
For more on the Gateway announcement, click here.
(With files from Gateway Casinos & Entertainment Limited)
Not all the racinos in the
Not all the racinos in the states, are doing great. They also have a MUCH higher handle, thus you really cant compare them to the situation in Ontario. take NY state for example, look where their harness tracks are located. Naturally you see them surviving, they are in NYC. Much like Woodbine and Mohawk are turning profit in the GTA....
But then lets look at tracks like Batavia and Buffalo. They are not doing so great. They are not success stories due to casinos, they still have handle far exceeding purses. They netting $160k plus on their last racing card, while giving away under $100k. That is a working business model.
How many of those are in Ontario? Dresden is not one. This model has more money going to the horsemen, then they generate themselves. Mr Nixon, and Mr Helmer, if you have one part of your business bleeding money, do you continue to filter money on to that part of the business, or do you try to expand on the part of the business that is thriving? You do not operate your business at a loss, why do you expect them to?
Harness racing really needs to market itself better, and it benefits you horsemen the most. These casinos and track owners have options, you dont. Asking why the government isnt taking care of you is getting tired. We have had these conversations for over 4 years on this site. Can you show me what the horseman have done to make this better for the business? Dont expect the tracks to come up with all the plans.... its clear many of those owners can make more money by selling the buildings or expanding the slots, at the expense of you not getting anything from it (see Rideau Carleton expansion improving everything except where the horses are)
This should not come as a shock to the Kawartha, Dresden and a few others..... unless the racing side of the business improves, and handle starts to exceed purses, more of these situations will occur. You dont have to like what I am saying, but it is reality.
There are many ways to fix this ship that do NOT require the government or slot money, but you all have to be willing to make the steps. Racing is not enough anymore.
Well I just don't get this at
Well I just don't get this at all, Why are we killing off the small tracks? This is where it all started - the small venues, where the little guy can race his bottom line claimers. It soon will be no more. This only means the loss of more jobs. Just don't understand the U.S saw our model of having casinos and racetracks working together and they adopted it they built Racinos. But not our government they decided to get another money grab and abandoned it. I feel sorry for the people of Dresden not only are they losing their slot venue but will eventually lose their Racetrack as our government reduces there race dates, as Dean Nixon said a proven recipe for disaster.
It’s amazing how much money
It’s amazing how much money casino operators are willing to spend to move the patrons away from the racetracks. Clearly the agenda of the government is to ultimately remove gaming from all tracks (where it has been a proven formula for success) and move gaming into our communities (proven recipe for disaster).