Bartolucci backs downtown casino

Sudbury’s dream of having a downtown convention centre and arts facility may be one of the benefits of building a casino downtown, Rick Bartolucci said Thursday.

On the heels of an Ontario Lottery Gaming Corporation announcement that it’s asking the private sector to step forward if they’re interested in building casinos, Bartolucci, MPP for Sudbury and the minister of Northern Development and Mines, said he hopes Sudbury’s facility will be built downtown.

“I can think of no better entertainment opportunity that will attract a large number of people on a daily basis to regenerate the downtown in such a dramatic way,” Bartolucci said. “I would think that since it’s a casino, you’re looking not only at slot machines, but also tables.”

He also raised the possibility that a private-sector investor maybe interested in adding a concert hall or convention centre along with the casino.

Similar plans were part of the campaign of former Greater Sudbury Mayor John Rodriguez, who sparred with Bartolucci over the costs of building and operating such facilities. However, a performance hall of some type could be feasible when twinned with the casino, Bartolucci said Thursday. And the casino developer would foot the bill.

“The private sector is very, very creative,” he said. “This type of initiative could well extend itself. Who knows what the possibilities are? It could extend itself into an entertainment venue, into some type of a convention centre.
“I look forward to seeing how this develops.”

After years of experience with the slots facility at Sudbury Downs, Bartolucci said the city is ready for a full casino.
“I hope that people in our community have become accustomed to gaming, and this is the next generation of gaming, so to speak,” he said. “I’ve always been a proponent of a casino for downtown Sudbury … This casino is an exciting opportunity that I hope our city council doesn’t want to miss out on.”

As part of the Ontario budget, the OLG announced earlier this year that it was ending an agreement with Ontario racetracks, where Ontario’s slots have been located since the 1990s. The tracks hosted the slots and shared the revenue.
Casinos have been built in some Ontario cities, such as Windsor, but Thursday’s announcement means that cities in 29 so-called gaming zones are eligible for casinos. In the north, those areas are in Thunder Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury and North Bay.

While the end of the old agreement was devastating to racetracks across the province, Bartolucci said there is a silver lining for municipalities.

“The OLG provides $2 billion in revenue to Ontario every year,” he said. “With this modernization program, they’re looking to increase that by $1.3 billion a year. So obviously, if they’re going to increase those revenues, they’re going to increase the revenues to the municipality.”

And a more complete casino will also create more permanent jobs than the slots provided, in addition to the jobs created during construction.

While he wasn’t certain when the process would move forward, Bartolucci expects more details before the end of 2012.
“I can’t give you a month, but I can safely say it will be within the year,” he said.

After the OLG hears the expressions interest from the private sector, it will issue a call for concrete proposals on who wants to build casinos, where and when.

Greater Sudbury Mayor Marianne Matichuk welcomed the announcement from the OLG, but didn’t echo Bartolucci’s call for the casino to be built downtown.

“It’s too early to tell where it’s going to go,” Matichuk said. “It would certainly be something that would revitalize downtown, but that’s something for the OLG and whoever the (private-sector) partner is to determine.”

City council passed a resolution Tuesday supporting gaming in Greater Sudbury. Matichuk said that doesn’t necessarily mean it supports a full-fledged casino.

“The final decision on whether to support a casino would be something council will have to decide,” she said. “But certainly it’s a source of revenue, it could be a source of a new taxes, and maybe an opportunity to generate a few more jobs.”

Posted by Darren MacDonald