Province rolls the dice on casino without a racetrack component
Gaming Horse racing industry to discuss future with finance minister
FREDERICTON - The provincial government announced Thursday that it had accepted a bid from Sonco Gaming New Brunswick Ltd., to build and operate a destination casino in the Magnetic Hill area of Moncton.
The facility, which is expected to open no later than Dec. 31, 2010, does not include a racetrack.
"I'm disappointed that there's not a racetrack component, and I'm sure everyone in the industry is disappointed as well,'' said Ross Galbraith, chairman of the New Brunswick Horse Racing Industry Association. "We'll want to meet with (the government) as soon as possible.''
Finance Minister Victor Boudreau unveiled plans during a press conference in Fredericton. He said the project will include a 128-room resort hotel, a multi-purpose entertainment centre with theatre seating for 1,500 and a banquet area with capacity for 1,400.
Boudreau said the $90-million project will create 400 full-time jobs. There will be 770 full-time jobs created during construction, he said.
Despite the absence of a racetrack in the project, Boudreau didn't dismiss the possibility of the government working with the horse racing industry in the future. That could happen through video lottery terminals, the minister said.
"We have always had dialogue with the horse racing industry and we will certainly continue to have dialogue with them to see how the new VLT program might be able to come into play and assist them, and to look at how we can do more for that industry,'' Boudreau said at a press conference following the announcement. "We obviously had invested considerably since taking office in the harness racing industry and we will continue the dialogue with them to see how we can help that industry out.''
Boudreau left the onus on the racetracks to initiate contact with the Atlantic Lottery Corporation. He said companies sharing sites with VLT operations stand to benefit through gaining a share of VLT proceeds, while also seeing increased customer traffic. Atlantic Lottery will manage the government's new VLT program, Boudreau added.
"If a proposal (from a racetrack) was put to them that made sense on a business side of things, we could see a certain number of VLTs get located on one of the racetracks,'' the minister said.
Galbraith said he remains concerned about the health of the horse racing industry.
"Horse racing was quite successful and self-sustaining until the government introduced other types of gaming,'' he said, referring to the likes of VLTs, 6/49 tickets and sports betting. "We just can't match the amount of advertising and marketing those other types of gaming do.''
Despite his concerns, Galbraith is hopeful the horse racing industry can work with the province.
"The government has always said they're willing to talk with us,'' he said. "I'm glad to hear the minister say he's willing to meet with us. I would hope to be able to meet with him sometime in the next few weeks.
"I'd like to meet with other people in the horse racing industry and then meet with the minister. What I want to talk about is where we go from here.''
Galbraith said the provincial horse racing industry employs close to 1,000 people and stressed the spin-offs in the agricultural sector.
"I'm optimistic we can figure something out,'' he said. "I have to be, I'm not one to throw in the towel.
"The racetracks have been hanging in there and we need to find a solution to make them successful, and to make horse people successful.''
Boudreau said the entire project will be funded by the private sector, and there will be no government funds involved in the design, construction, equipping or operation of the facility. Evaluation of the four proposals for the project was carried out by five evaluation teams.
The request for proposals for a destination casino was released as part of a responsible gaming policy announced by the province on Nov. 8, 2007. VLT sites in the province will be cut by more than 50 per cent, while the number of machines will be cut by nearly 25 per cent. The transformation of the VLT program will begin in October with the removal of VLTs from dining establishments. The reform of the VLT program is expected to be complete by April 2010.
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