With horse racing at Northlands coming to a close, Century Casino has announced the Century Mile Racing Entertainment Centre has received approval from the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission (AGLC).
The $50-million complex will be going up on Edmonton International Airport lands, north of Airport Road and west of the RedTail Landing golf course.
“It’s basically going to be modelled after our Century Downs Racetrack and Casino in Calgary,” Paul Ryneveld with Century Casinos said last year, adding the Edmonton facility would be about 50 per cent larger than the space in Calgary.
READ MORE: Century Casinos plans to build new horse-racing track south of Edmonton
The plan is to build a mile-long track with stabling for up to 800 horses. The facility will be two floors with the possibility for a third. With the AGLC approval complete, the company is working on securing finances for the project.
Century Casinos was one of four organizations asked by Horse Racing Alberta to submit proposals to build, own and operate an “A” Race Track Licence in the Edmonton area after six organizations voiced interest. Century Casinos Europe GmbH is an international company that operates casinos around the globe, including four in Alberta.
It’s expected that construction will take about 15 months to complete, with a plan to open in late 2018. Racing at Northlands will continue until the new track is done.
The track will be located about 10 kilometres south of the Edmonton city limits.
With the Century Mile entertainment complex officially going ahead, attention is turning in to getting an interchange at 65 Avenue SW approved by the province.
The racetrack’s location means another entry point will be needed for the entire airport property according to City of Leduc Mayor Greg Krischke
“I think it’s fair to say that airport has done an awful lot to mitigate any access-egress into the airport, and to the mall and now this race track,” he said. “But anytime you only have one entrance in and one entrance out, it has the potential to create negative situations.”
Both Leduc County and the city, as well as the airport’s authority, and the City of Edmonton are working together on the overall interchange project.
“All agree that it is needed infrastructure to help economic development in this region,” Krischke said.
A functional study and design study showing land use and traffic volumes are completed for what would be the entranceway on to the airport property at the extreme south end.
“That was a partnership between the airport, the City of Leduc, and Alberta Transportation,” Krischke said. “So the final thing that needs to happen before it can be constructed is the detailed engineered drawings, and that’s what we are advocating for at the moment.”
The cost of detailed engineering is $3.5 million, split three ways. Krischke said the province’s share of $1.2 million can be found with in Alberta Transportation’s budget, even though the project wasn’t specifically named in the provincial budget that was released March 16.
— With files from Caley Ramsay, Karen Bartko and Phil Heidenreich, Global News