The return of slots at Sarnia's Hiawatha Horse Park was celebrated with an official opening ceremony Thursday.
Local dignitaries, and representatives from Gateway Casinos and Ontario Lottery and Gaming (OLG) helped cut the ribbon at the London Line site.
City Council approved the return of slot machines at Hiawatha in May of last year after the Doug Ford government reached an agreement with Gateway in the fall of 2018.
The previous Liberal government had removed the slots in 2012.
Sarnia-Lambton MPP Bob Bailey sees the reopening of the slots as an anchor that will create more jobs and spur development in the area.
"Well there will be other activity, as I understand from owner Jim Henderson, there's other facilities that have already approached him because of this opening today that want to come here as well and rent and lease other opportunities here that are vacant -- I heard in the past that a major hotel [was interested] -- he's got a 165 acres plus here," he said. "A lot of other businesses along the golden mile, I'm dating myself when I say the golden mile but London Line here, will benefit as well. The gas stations, the motels, the restaurants, every one of them told me that eight years ago when the slots at racetracks ended, they noticed a dramatic drop in business -- I want to see them do well as well."
Henderson said the site certainly looks different than it did at the original grand opening in May of 1999.
"It's a little bit smaller, no question about that, it's different, little bit more modern machines. We were more of a full-serve type before and it's a little different this time, but like Bob Bailey said, there's lots of room for expansion and we can start working on other venues on the property," said Henderson. "It's like reinventing the wheel. We were the first one open last time and now we got this going again, and starting to work on the horse racing side -- the horse racing has never stopped, everybody doesn't realize that we did keep the horse racing going the whole time. We've been closed for eight years and it's kind of nice to see it reopen and done-up really nice, very modern."
Gateway's Director of Communications and Public Affairs Rob Mitchell said the reopening marks another significant investment in southwestern Ontario.
"Well we've been investing an awful lot of money in this area, and I think that this is going to have a really significant economic impact in terms of it's another attraction for horse racing here at Hiawatha, 60 new jobs and of course we'll be sourcing all our food and beverage locally, so this is part in parcel of a larger, bigger economic picture in southwestern Ontario and even northern Ontario."
Gateway invested $26 million recently at Point Edward's Starlight Casino and another $36 million at Cascades Casino Chatham.
The 53,000 square foot facility, renamed Gateway Casinos Sarnia, features 150 slots on a gaming floor of about 22,000 square feet.
The city of Sarnia will earn 5.25 per cent of the first $65 million generated from the slots.
Gateway Casinos & Entertainment also runs Point Edward's Starlight Casino.
Mitchell said they're hoping Gateway Sarnia can find some synergy with the Point Edward site.
"It's exceeded our expectations in terms of the timelines to get this up and ready to be operational today. We kind of think of it as a little sister of Point Edward -- it's kind of like a luxury one-bedroom apartment, but if you really want to party, you go down to the penthouse down in Point Edward. But it's a really nice facility, it's turned out very well and it's been very well received in the community," said Mitchell. "Well, we have the express bar, limited food offerings but a space of course where you can eat and we have hot dogs and the usual expectations in a smaller grab-and-go setting. Of course the cash cage, electronic blackjack, a really diverse variety of games -- some new games and some old favourites."
Mitchell said there are still some jobs to fill at Hiawatha, and that some former employees from 2012 have returned to work at the renovated site.
