Behind-the-scenes look at $50M Gateway Casino rebuild

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Amid the flashing lights and ringing sounds as guests play slot machines and table games, there is no hint that Gateway Casinos London at Western Fair District is a construction site.

Touring the casino as it prepares to open the second phase of a massive, five-phase $50-million reconstruction, the fact it is hardly noticeable is a point of pride.

“There is no service interruption. Customers are not noticing anything,” said Rob Mitchell, spokesperson for Gateway Casinos as he walks the gaming floor.

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Robert Principe, director of construction at Gateway Casinos, is quick to agree.

“Every project has hiccups but we have been so fortunate, this job has gone perfectly; we have never lost power, there has been no interruption to heating and cooling. The patron experience has not been interrupted.”

London’s casino is taking shape and its second phase, a major step in its renewal, will open just before Christmas, Mitchell said.

The London casino – it will be called Cascades Casino when it is fully open – is adding 2,040 square metres (22,000 square feet) to create a total of 7,400 square metres (80,000 square feet) of floor space filled with four-metre high slot machines and tables offering several different games.

When construction is completed by 2026, the casino will have 891 machines compared with its current total of 742, and the number of gaming tables may be as high as 18, up from its current 12.

“We really have wind in our sails at this point,” Mitchell said.

“We are seeing it take shape and the completion of Phase 2 is a major milestone. Our customers will get the breadth of the new gaming floor.”

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Construction began in August 2023. New slot machines were added in the first phase of the expansion that has been completed and the second phase was started in May, Principe said.

The casino has raised decorative panels around the gaming floor and behind those, drywall is being raised and plastered, and flooring and ceilings installed. 

“We are configuring an entirely new gaming floor, it will be brand new, but we will not interfere with customers,” Mitchell said.

As smoothly as the rebuild has gone, it has been a challenge to retrofit an older building, Principe said. He is used to working with four-metre ceilings and now is compressing duct work, power lines and cables into much smaller spaces.

“It’s been a major challenge. We have had to flatten ducts to maximize ceiling space. This used to be an office, it looked nothing like this before,” he said of what will be the larger gaming floor.

The gaming floor will include table games including Blackjack, roulette, baccarat, poker and sic bo, a popular Asian dice game. There also will be electronic table games including craps.

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In addition, Gateway Casinos London will feature new restaurants, Match Eatery and Public House, which will have a heated patio open for “three and a half seasons,” Principe said. The casino will also have Lucky Chow Noodle Bar near the gaming floor.

But the plan was not always to have a large casino on site at Western Fair District. In 2018, Gateway announced it would build a $75-million casino on Wonderland Road after failing to get a lease deal at the fair.

But Reg Ash succeeded Hugh Mitchell as chief executive at Western Fair District in 2019 and in 2022, Gateway pulled the plug on the new casino to enter into a new lease with Western Fair.

“We are very happy we worked out a very good and equitable lease arrangement with the fairground. They are enormously supportive. It is a great collaboration,” Mitchell said.

The fair offered Gateway additional space to expand and Gateway offered a long-term lease, which helped “the financial stability of the organization,” Ash said of its impact on Western Fair District.

“It gives us a stable base to have year-round operations. That is super important to us.”

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Ash also applauded the impact the casino will have on the neighbourhood east of the core. The casino and fair district, with its horse racing and sports venues, and the nearby 100 Kellogg Lane that will soon open a Hard Rock hotel, creates an entertainment hub.

“This area has some vibrancy now and it complements the hard work done by the Old East Village (business association)”, Ash said.

“It is all working together to make a community thrive.”

That thriving includes being a major employer. Gateway Casinos London, in 2023, employed more than 240 and after the expansion, expects to add more than 100 workers, Mitchell said.

As for its financial impact, in 2023 the city of London received $5 million in revenue from Gateway and the city has received $93.7 million in gaming revenue since 1999. 

ndebono@postmedia.com

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