Mayor Matt Brown is doing some damage control following his state of the city address on Tuesday.
Brown announced millions of dollars of investment and hundreds of jobs for the city but failed to mention Gateway Casinos who plan to spend $140-million to build a full-fledged casino, which they say will create 700 jobs.
After Brown’s speech Tuesday morning, Gateway officials said they were disappointed they were left out.
“We’re here in London, we’ve moved our head office in Ontario to London. We’re investing $140 million, we hope to create in excess of 700 new jobs,” said Rob Mitchell Gateway’s Director of Communications and Public Affairs. “We want to build a brand new casino and it’s a bit disappointing we weren’t part of the story.”
When asked by 980 CFPL, Mayor Brown said he’s excited about Gateway’s plans, but said there was a simple reason for why they weren’t included.
“At this time talks are ongoing, there is no announcement to make. I think it’s important to let those talks occur,” he said.
The company revealed last month it hopes to build its “premium brand” Grand Villa casino, with a 125-room hotel, a new gaming floor, and four restaurants.
Gateway, Canada’s largest private casino operator, took over slot operations at Western Fair in May. The current lease, which costs Gateway $6 million a year, expires in 2020.
A location for the casino hasn’t been determined. Gateway has said it would like to build the casino at the Western Fair, but that hasn’t been finalized.
Brown is hopeful the plan will be completed soon.
“I very much look forward to highlighting an announcement related to this specific project sometime in the near future.”
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