The British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC) has given the nod to a new casino which is set to be built on the old Delta Town & Country Inn site with construction works set to start at the beginning of 2019.
The casino, called Cascades Casino Delta, is to be operated by Gateway Casinos and Entertainment. The gambling facility which is set to offer 500 slot machines is expected to start operation sometime around the mid-2020. The gambling facility will also offer 24 table games, as well as six electronic table games, and will also include a 124-room hotel, along with meeting space and dining area. According to the owners of the Cascades Casino Delta, the project which has been estimated to CA$70-million will create up to 700 new jobs in the city.
Apart from that, a 10% chunk of the gambling profits generated at the casino will be redirected to the city coffers. Previously, Gateway Casinos and Entertainment has projected annual profits of the venue to be in the range from CA$1.5 million to CA$3 million.
Before getting the BCLC approval, the project was first greenlighted by the Delta City Council in May. According to the Council, the only suitable site for the construction of the new gambling facility was the place of the Delta Town and Country Inn, as on one hand, it is situated in close proximity to major transportation corridors and on the other hand, it is far from residential neighborhoods of the town.
Independent Third-Party Mediator Says Richmond’s Objections Are Groundless
It was not an easy ride for Cascades Casino Delta and its owners, as the project for the new casino faced some opposition on its way to the final approval.
As Casino Reports revealed earlier, the municipal neighbor of Delta – the City of Richmond – objected to the opening of the new casino, and more specifically, to the venue’s location, saying that the establishment of such a facility could result in a possible increase in crime rates and traffic congestion. Malcolm Brodie, the Mayor of Richmond has severely criticized the plans for a new casino and said that according to him, such an establishment would have a negative impact on the region.
Richmond’s objection triggered the legislative requirement of BCLC to start a non-binding attempt for the dispute to be resolved by an independent third-party mediator by addressing all issues involved in the objection of Delta’s neighbor city.
Still, according to an independent mediator’s conclusion, which was unveiled as part of a report issued on October 15th, the City of Richmond did not manage to provide adequate supporting documentation to support its claims. At the time when the report in question was issued, the independent mediator Simon Margolis wrote there was not enough evidence which backed Richmond’s claims that the addition of the Cascades Casino Delta would result in significant costs for Delta’s neighbor city.
