Dresden Raceway Survives First Cuts by OLG

People connected to Dresden Raceway let out a sigh of relief Tuesday as the local race track survived the Ontario Gaming and Lottery Corporation’s first round of cuts to slots facilities at racetracks.

Local border cities including Windsor and Sarnia (Hiawatha) however, were not so lucky as OLG announced it will be permanently closing the slots facilities at these racetracks. Fort Erie was the other facility that will be closed.

“We regret the impact today’s decision will have on employees who are affected by these impending closures,” said OLG President and CEO Rod Phillips in an official release Tuesday morning.

The Windsor, Sarnia, and Fort Erie locations were closed today so that OLG representatives could “properly attend” to the impacted employees. In total, an estimated 560 employees lost their jobs Tuesday due to the decision.

OLG has stated they will continue to provide reasonable support for racetracks that still have operating slots facilities until the cancellation of the Slots at Racetracks program takes effect next March. At that point, all funding provided to the horse racing industry from OLG will stop.

Although Dresden Raceway was not closed, the track is run by Windsor Raceway which was impacted by today’s decision. As well, the slots at Dresden Raceway could still be on the chopping block, as Phillips stated today’s moves were only the beginning of changes to come,

“In order to be more responsive to our customers as we modernize our business, we will expand, relocate and contract OLG gaming sites,” said Phillips. “These three site closures are difficult, but are an important first step. The discussions with key stakeholders regarding potential relocations or new facilities will begin shortly. We will keep employees and the public up to date or our progress.”

Chatham-Kent Councillor Art Stirling said that although uncertainty still looms, he was happy to see that the OLG had saved Dresden for the time being,

“Though the future is still uncertain, I’m pleased to see that the slots at the Dresden Raceway, and the jobs associated with them, have survived this round of cuts by the OLG. Given our small size and relative closeness to the border, it would have really been not surprising if we had gotten caught up in OLG’s decision to eliminate and consolidate facilities in US border communities.”

Stirling also spoke to the financial implications of closing the Dresden slots on Chatham-Kent’s budget, as the slots have contributed nearly $6 million to the Municipality in the last decade, “As budget chair, we need the revenues that Chatham-Kent receives annually for being an OLG host community and to lose them would be substantial.”

Continue to follow CKSN.ca for updates regarding Dresden Raceway.

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