The million Cascades Casino Kamloops opened last week in British Columbia. It replaces the Laker City Casino that opened in 1998.
The casino, operated for the British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC) by Gateway Casinos & Entertainment, has 330 employees. It has 500 slot machines, 18 gaming tables and a three-table poker room.
The new casino is larger than its predecessor, a fact that is highlighted by the three restaurants that would not have fit inside that former casino’s 14,000 SF. The eateries are Match Eatery and Public House, The Buffet and Atlas Steak and Fish.
Kamloops Mayor Peter Milobar told Kamloops This Week that the old casino, “was a bit of an eyesore and not what you would expect in a modern casino in the city that serves as the headquarters of BCLC.
Others visiting the new casino praised it for not having “that dingy feel,” of the old facility.
BC Transportation Minister Todd Stone hailed the 65,000 square foot casino’s opening: “This is a great example of what the private sector can do when the government gets out of the way,” he said. “It is absolutely spectacular. This is a world-class facility.”
Gateway CEO Tony Santo, commented, “We are rebranding our company to be an entertainment company, not a gaming company. We want people to come and have a good meal, gamble or not gamble, it doesn’t matter to us.”
