Sudbury may not be able to carry out its ambitious plan to build a new $60 million gambling complex on the Kingsway. An anti-casino group in Sudbury remains broadly opposed to an expanded casino in the city. Some time ago, the group requested the city officials to reconsider the casino establishment in Sudbury. The opponents signed up over 200 business owners, who are against the casino expansion plan. At present, the group keeps on digging deeper to make sure that the casino expansion project will never be realized. The group’s latest move is to open a public consultation in order to warn people about the downsides of having a casino in the city.
Gateway’s plans to replace the 18-year-old slots at Sudbury Downs with a full-fledged entertainment complex may hit the rail as the anti-casino group in Sudbury is gaining steam. According to the latest news, the group is to open a public consultation to provide a detailed information regarding the disadvantages that casino gambling can offer to the people and the community. The anti-casino group calling itself No Casino Sudbury plans to host a meeting on 3rd January to allow residents to express their personal opinion on the matter. The meeting is set to kick off at 6 pm local time at St. Andrews Church on Larch Street and it is to continue for 3 hours.
Anti-Casino Group May Doom Gateway’s Casino Expansion Project
According to Cathy Orlando, a group’s member, the local people have never been consulted on the matter and no discussions were held to warn people about the dangers of a full-blown casino on the Kingsway. She elaborated that the city announced the casino expansion plan 5 years ago and the city officials had more than enough time to open a public consultation period in order to hear people’s opinion on the matter. She added that the slot-only venue is of much smaller-scale than the proposed casino and the venue is at a certain distance from people.
Gateway’s casino project, on the other hand, is to provide easy access to people, which means that more people will be directly exposed to the negative influence of the casino. Ms. Orlando noted that many families live in Sudbury, which makes the city an inappropriate location to build a casino. She took the opportunity to remind that the construction of a large-scale entertainment project is to hit the profitability of the horse racing industry in the North.
Canada’s gambling operator Gateway Casinos & Entertainment Ltd. plans to turn the first sod in 2018. Initially, the construction of the entertainment complex was expected to happen in 2013 as the city announced its plans to host the gambling complex in 2012. As it can be recalled, the city officials gave the nod to Gateway’s casino expansion plan, stimulated by the construction of a $100-million arena. It is yet to become clear if the majority of Sudburians are to back the casino expansion plan and what is to happen supposing that locals share the group’s stance on the matter and reject the casino.
