Written by GORDON HOEKSTRA
Citizen staff
|
|
Monday, 25 August 2008 |
The Chances Good Time community gaming centre took a critical step to moving out of the downtown when council voted unanimously Monday night to approve the relocation following a public hearing.
The request came just four months after the gaming centre opened downtown when owner John Major revealed the operation was doing poorly financially. He wants to move the bingo portion of the cetre to the Treasure Cove Casino at the intersection of highways 97 and 16.
Coun. Don Zurowki said he was supporting the move because it would help protect the benefit to 86 charities which took in funding of $8 million in three years, a sentiment expressed by other councillors as well.
Coun. Debora Munoz, who didn't support the gaming centre's location downtown originally, said she was pleased to the operation was moving out of the downtown and there would be a net reduction in slot machines.
The move remains subject to meeting any concerns raised by the Ministry of Transportation about the effect on traffic along Highway 16 and Highway 97 in the area.
A parking analysis has shown there are enough stalls already in place to accommodate the expansion.
Major, who owns both the Chances Good Time community gaming centre at Seventh and Quebec and the casino, told council the gaming centre was losing $40,000 a month.
Major said he needs to move the money-losing enterprise as a result of a number of factors including changes to B.C. Lottery Corp. policy that doesn't allow bingo cards to be taken onto a smoking patio. Major also noted that Prince George bingo players don't like the noise from the slot machines, and their presence. "(The downtown building) is too big for the present and future operations," Major told council.
L&M Engineering president Dave McWaler, who is working for Major, also said there has already been interest in the downtown property from a Lower Mainland-based development company with properties in Vanderhoof and Prince Rupert. The company has indicated it is interested in building an 80-100 room hotel on the site, perhaps in four to five years, said McWalter. The building has already been engineered to support another four storeys.
The move has already been endorsed by the Bonanza Charities Association, which represents the 86 Prince George charities affiliated with the gaming centre. Many individual charities also spoke in favour of the move during the public hearing.
The Downtown Business Improvement Association also spoke in favour of the move, and the B.C. Lotteries Corp., which oversees gaming in the province, provided a letter of support.
Prince George is the only community in B.C. where one service provider handles both community gaming and casino operations, and combining the two into one location will present a unique promotional opportunity, said Major.
Bingo would be housed in a separate area in the casino, away from the slot machines, and would be large enough to hold 402 people with the capacity to expand to 650 for special events. The current gaming centre holds 660 seats.
Moreover, none of the slot machines now housed at the gaming centre will be transferred to the casino which holds 575 machines, resulting in a net decrease of 100 slot machines in the city.
Major also said he remains committed to building the six townhouses he promised at the site.
The 26,000-square-foot facility was built at a cost of $10.5 million after the land was purchased from the city for $1.2 million.
A 154-stall underground parking lot was included in the project at a further cost of $4.86 million. The city contributed $3 million to that part of the project while Major was forced to make up an additional $1.86 million of the bill.
The city will retain ownership of the parking lot if the move is approved. City officials could provide little information on its revenue potential when questioned by a member of the public during the hearing.
However, city officials said they saw no problem in renting the parking stalls on a monthly basis.
As proposed, the new bingo facility would be located at the east side of the casino as part of an expansion of the show lounge.
 |
|
Last Updated ( Monday, 25 August 2008 )
|
Subscribe to this comment's feed
