Hiawatha Horse Park owner/operator Jim Henderson has stated that the earliest that slot-machine gaming will return to his Sarnia raceway will be this coming Christmas, and that “it’s been hard to get all the ducks in a row.”
Henderson’s comments have come via a recent article by The Sarnia Journal. The piece also states that a May 27 public meeting was held by City Council, and that council voted in favour of slots being re-established at the facility.
In October of 2018, Sarnia-Lambton MPP Bob Bailey, who was accompanied by Henderson, announced that slot machines would be returning to the track. Hiawatha Horse Park had been home to 450 slot machines before the former Ontario Liberal Government removed them. Published reports from last October stated that 150 slots will be reintroduced to the Sarnia facility.
According to The Sarnia Journal, Henderson has said that it will be closer to 2020 before the lease is in place and renovations are completed to house the re-introduction of slots at Hiawatha.
“It’s been hard to get all the ducks in a row,” Henderson was quoted as saying last week. “I just received the draft lease agreement from OLG (Ontario Lottery and Gaming) and I still don’t have the final drawings.”
Henderson added that a hotel chain expressed interest in building at the track when it heard that slots would be returning to Hiawatha.
(With files from The Sarnia Journal)