Site plan approved for new Chatham casino

(Gateway Casinos & Entertainment Limited)

Chatham-Kent council has unanimously approved the site plan for the proposed new casino in Chatham.

Meanwhile, an East Kent Councillor is concerned about the void left behind in Dresden.

The green light was given at Monday night’s combined planning and regular meeting for the new facility, which will be located at the northeast intersection of Richmond Street and Keil Drive South in Chatham.

“Gateway Casinos and Entertainment Limited, is proposing to construct a 4207 sq. gaming facility (casino style) including two restaurants and a patio,” Bruce McAllister, director of planning in Chatham-Kent, said in a report.

“Gateway is one of the largest gaming and entertainment companies in Canada and currently operates in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario. In March, Gateway announced it expects to invest $36 million into a new Cascades branded casino at 615 Richmond Street in Chatham and create up to 200 new jobs in the Municipality of Chatham-Kent.”

McAllister says the proposed new casino would feature over 300 slots and 10 table games, and Gateway’s signature restaurant brands MATCH Eatery & Public House and The Buffet.

It is planned that the new casino will open mid-2019.

East Kent Coun. David Vandamme said on Monday that he supports the move, but he believes there is a hole left behind in Dresden.

“It is great news for this community, but it is bittersweet,” Vandamme said.

“It is a loss for the community of Dresden. I was there for the announcement at the Bradley Centre last month and everybody recognized that. In saying that, I can’t help but wonder if there are policies and procedures in place when things like this happen to our rural communities that we can work together collectively to figure out what to do in order to compensate for the loss.”

Vandamme said he fully supports the move and “it’s a great news story all the way around.

“But if you were to take a piece of paper and look at the community of Dresden and line up the race track, you’re cutting out a square right beside the race track. I don’t know what to do to fix that void because there will be a void. It was certainly a great contributor to our Municipality… $11-million since 2001, but I think we need to start moving forward too in significant ways to deal with the loss,” he said.

Chatham-Kent Mayor Randy Hope said Gateway has indicated they will work with the horse racing industry.

“I do believe we can do things based on the horse racing industry… posting some signs to gain momentum. The OLG is making investments for advertisements of the horse racing industry. We also need to promote it on our road signs, the mayor said.

Hope added he has spoken to staff about creating community signage, which would include the race dates for the Dresden Raceway.

“We need to drive traffic there,” Hope said.

“We do know that the horse racing industry can survive and it did before the casino came. We just have to find the mechanism that we can do internally so we can support that industry, support harness racing and go forward.”

Here is some more coverage on the proposed new casino: 200 new jobs, $36M investment for new Chatham casino

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