Emotional farewell for Northlands staff on final day of casino’s operation

It’s the end of an era in Edmonton that spans over a century.

On Thursday, the Northlands Casino opened its doors for the last time after 23 years in operation — marking the final step to the complete shutdown of the historic Northlands Park.

“I was around here when we opened the building in 1996, and I’ve seen the transition from horse racing and the slot machines,” Northlands president Gordon Wilson said.

“We opened it up as a spectrum and it became Northlands Park soon after that. Yeah, it’s a very sad day. This is winding up an era.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We opened it up as a spectrum and it became Northlands Park soon after that. Yeah, it's a very sad day. This is winding up an era."

READ MORE: Handing over the reins: Northlands Park hosts final horse-racing event

Northlands Gaming and Racing director Scott Sinclair echoed Wilson’s sentiments. Sinclair has been with the organization for seven years and called Northlands “a family.”

“It’s the one thing that Northlands has, is a community-based organization, Sinclair said.

“It’s all about reaching out, helping out — and what a better example of that than this place, where we’ve done that. Community’s come out, we’ve supported thousands of charities over the years that this building has been around and with hundreds of thousands — if not millions — of dollars.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "It's all about reaching out, helping out — and what a better example of that than this place, where we've done that. Community's come out, we've supported thousands of charities over the years that this building has been around and with hundreds of thousands — if not millions — of dollars."

The park’s racetrack held its final event October 2018, after being in operation for 118 years.

READ MORE: Ideas pour in for the development of Edmonton’s Exhibition Lands

WATCH BELOW: On Oct. 27, 2018, Albert Delitala reported on the final horse race at Northlands Park. 

1:42 Northlands Park marks last live horse race

A new horse-racing track and casino is being built by Century Casinos south of the city, on Edmonton International Airport land and is scheduled to open in April.

Century Mile will feature a one-mile track — up from the five-eights at Northlands — and will have 600 slot machines.

“Everybody wanted a mile racetrack and now they’re going to have a mile racetrack; they’re going to have brand new facilities; they’re going to have additional revenue from the slot machines. I think it’s a real win for the horsemen,” Wilson said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "Everybody wanted a mile racetrack and now they're going to have a mile racetrack; they're going to have brand new facilities; they're going to have additional revenue from the slot machines. I think it's a real win for the horsemen," Wilson said.

“Things that the horse racing world needs and the gaming world will also love,” Sinclair said. “They’ll see all these same slot machines refurbished and taken to that building, so of course there will still be a piece of Northlands Park around, but just in a new home.”

READ MORE: Century Casinos plans to build new horse-racing track south of Edmonton

The new facility will host the Canadian Derby in August.

Century Casinos Europe GmbH is an international company that operates casinos around the globe, including four in Alberta. The company also operates Calgary’s race track.

Wilson said Northlands will continue to operate K-Days, Farm Fair and other agriculture events.

“We’re in the event business. We like to say that we do what the government can’t do and what business won’t do, so we’re here to deliver those two products,” he said.

The city and Northlands agreed to a five-year agreement to keep K-Days on the exhibition grounds through 2022.

READ MORE: Edmonton’s Farmfair International happy with 2018 event despite predicted drop in attendance

To mark its final day, the Northlands Casino held several special events, including a slot tournament where winners split $8,000, as well as a $6,000 for one winner.