Something new for Gananoque and the 1000 Islands area!

Two Leeds-Grenville municipalities, not one as expected, have been chosen for the site of an eastern Ontario charity casino.

The 35-acre plot of land, mostly in the Township of Leeds and Thousand Islands, but also partially within the borders of Gananoque, falls between Highway 401, the Thousand Islands Parkway and County Road 2.

It's a terrific location!

Map showing Casino Location

May 2, 2001

1. The town of Gananoque and the surrounding Leeds and the Thousand Islands Township have signed a deal to share the costs and benefits of the new Thousand Islands Charity Casino
2. The deal, agreed-upon last week, also contains clauses to cover awkward issues like annexation, boundary changes and arbitration of disputes.
3. Gananoque town manager Bill Arthur said Mayor Sylvia Fletcher Thomas and Reeve Harold Grier signed their lawyer's agreement after their respective councils had approved it.
4. But Arthur said the two municipalities don't yet know whether it'll be May 8 or 9 when the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. officials arrive to give them more details about things like servicing the casino site and timetables for construction.
5. However, he did say that they expected the ground to be broken on the site just east of Gananoque on June 1st with the expected opening of the casino to be next May or June.
6. Arthur thinks the Corporation won't want to drag out the construction process because the sooner it's completed the sooner the province will start to see is estimated revenues of $47 million a year role in.
7. The town and the township will split five percent of the revenues from video lottery terminal and slot machines, the agreement states, and which Arthur says is "a lot of money."
8. If the gaming Corp. changes its method of calculation of revenues to a municipality or municipalities, the subsequent revenues will still be shared equally by them.
9. Under "miscellaneous costs," the agreement states that each municipality will pay its own legal bills and will collect what fees they are entitled to collect for any zoning changes, site plan agreements or official plan amendments.
   
10. All revenues paid by the gaming Corp. to municipalities, all municipal taxes or provincial grants in lieu of municipal taxes will be shared equally, as will be the five percent of gaming revenues.

May 27/01

• Officials will hire locally  as much as possible  to fill 400 jobs. The municipalities of Gananoque and Leeds and the Thousand Islands Township,  will split five percent of revenue from the charity casino to open next spring.
• The corporation is still negotiating with the Ministry of Transportation for the land just east of Gananoque, the joint councils heard in public session, although soil testing is being done and the corporation is looking for office space, training rooms and motel accommodation for the construction crews.
•  Gananoque Council voted to lease the Gananoque and District Recreation Center's banquet hall to the corporation as a training centre  for four months, starting in December.
• There will be a job fair this fall for the expected 400 direct full and part-time jobs.  The intention is to hire locally as much as possible, and then train the successful applicants. Some 75 to 85 percent of the hiring is usually  local-within 40 kilometers.
• The 450 slot machines and 18 gaming tables will operate from 11 AM to 4 AM seven days a week.
• The casino won't pay extra for policing -other than its own internal security- or for firefighting.
• The casino will have a small bar and restaurant and a gift shop for casino souvenirs and customers must be 19 or over. Casino security staff will look out for those who've had too much to drink and there will be an Ontario Provincial Police gaming unit of inside to watch for crime.  Despite fears, there will not be an increase in crime.
• As for problem gambling they have a provincial problem gambling prevention and treatment fund from two percent of the revenues, a 24-hour hotline, warning signs on each machine and a "self-exclusion policy" by which gamblers can sign a document that they should be prevented from entering a casino.
• OLGC will hold a one or two-day job fair this fall.  Those interested in jobs should present resumes then, and not mail them in now.    Thousands of job applications are expected. 
• There will be three types of jobs: administration, hospitality and gaming.   Employees will be licensed by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario. 

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The voters of Gananoque will decide in the fall whether their town will bid for a charity casino.

The Ontario government is allowing a casino to open in the St. Lawrence River and Thousand Islands tourist area.

Gananoque is one of four communities eligible for the gambling facility.

On Tuesday night more than 300 people attended a meeting of town council to decide whether a plebiscite will be added to the municipal ballot. But it was clear from the passionate arguments for and against a charity casino, nothing about this issue is simple.

Michael Kirkby accused the Ontario government of being out for a tax grab. "As far as I'm concerned they're a bunch of crooks. They don't care really about people that will end up with problems in gambling in their families," he said.

For residents who want a casino, though, it's all about improving the town's economy.

Ross Hamilton, president of the local chamber of commerce, said the casino would create hundreds of well-paying jobs. "Those people then have economic buying power and they're going to be spending money in their community," he said.

Such discussions are still fresh in the minds of many in this border community of 5,000. Three years ago they were asked to vote on whether they wanted a casino. They said no.

Last night council decided the question will be on the ballot once again, on Nov. 13.