The Lake City Casino in Kelowna British Columbia has re-opened as the Playtime Casino Kelowna from Gateway Casinos and Entertainment.
The casino underwent a CAN $3.6 million renovation, adding two restaurants, updating the gaming floor, and increasing the workforce by 50 employees. The casino now employs 270 people, the company said in a press release.
“We are thrilled to celebrate the grand opening of Playtime Casino Kelowna,” said Gateway CEO Tony Santo, at the re-opening event according to the Kelowna Capital News. “It being Gateway’s first Playtime Casino location, it makes its grand opening even more exciting for all of us.”
Santo said Kelowna was the perfect location to launch the company’s new brand.
The new operation will focus on food and entertainment with its new Buffet and Match eateries and is hoping to draw new customers. The casino also features an array of slot machines, as well as table games, a poker room, the restaurants, a bar and sports betting.
In another matter, Gateway is still in prolonged negotiations to operate a casino in the Western Fair District of London Ontario.
Western Fair is in talks with Gateway on a new deal for its casino operation, which the company took over from the Ontario government’s gambling arm. Gateway is planning a CAN $140-million hotel and gambling complex on site.
However, officials from the Western Fair—which operates a number of special events, conferences, entertainment, agricultural events, horse racing and hockey—want to ensure that legacy is protected in a massive casino development, according to a report in the London Free Press.
“For us, it is our identity. Our role to this region is important and we don’t want to jeopardize it,” Hugh Mitchell, Western Fair’s chief executive told the paper. “We have trade shows, consumer shows, sports, a four-pad arena and we have horse racing 125 nights a year. We want to approach them with being bigger than just gambling. We want to make sure them being here does not conflict with our mandate.”
Rob Mitchell, a Gateway spokesperson, said the company is not looking to reduce activities and events in the district, but does want to reduce its $6.2 million a year lease payment through 2020.
“We do not want to jeopardize that heritage at Western Fair District,” he told the paper. “We want a renewed lease agreement or to buy land. The $6.2 million annually does not make sense to us. It’s not our intent at all to impede other events at Western Fair. “We want shared amenities with the racetrack.”
