The Dresden Agricultural Society fears bidding farewell to the slots facility in Dresden will have a ripple effect on surrounding businesses, including the Dresden Raceway.
Chatham-Kent councillors recently received news that Gateway Casinos Dresden will be heading to Chatham. Officials with the casino say the slots in Dresden will remain operational until 2020, but won't commit to anything beyond that. The slots are located next to the Dresden Raceway, which is operated by the Dresden Agricultural Society.
Dresden Agricultural Society President Lucille Laprise says she is saddened and disappointed that the slots will be relocating to Chatham, but is mostly just surprised because she thought everything was going so well.
"It will certainly affect us that's for sure. We have been good neighbours and good side-by-side, we complemented one another all these years and things have gone really well. For them to leave, it's going to be a big void for us for sure," she says.
Laprise is primarily concerned about the financial consequences the business' relocation will have on the raceway and the town.
"Whenever a business leaves a community it has a ripple [or] domino effort and all the other businesses are going to share in the loss also...so that's kind of sad for the town of Dresden," says Laprise.
Laprise says the agricultural society never prepared for such a big change.
"It's something that the ag society members are going to have to take into account and we're going to re-evaluate the situation and go from there," she says.
Laprise says there is a chance that the company may change its mind and there is always hope.
