Officials in the Town of Ajax are concerned that if the proposed Durham Live Entertainment Centre in neighbouring Pickering is selected by the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. for the site of a casino, the move could spell the end of Ajax Downs, which has its own expansion plans.
News of the simmering situation comes courtesy of a piece by Gaming Post which states that Pickering City Council has given its final approval for the zoning bylaw and that the ball is now in the court of the OLG.
The proposed expansion calls for a 220-acre, multi-faceted entertainment destination. The location of the expansion would be right along the Pickering/Ajax border. The Town of Ajax has appealed Pickering’s decision on the re-zoning of the proposed location.
Last spring, officials with Ajax Downs filed plans to expand the Quarter Horse racing and gaming facility. The plans called for the introduction of another 200 gaming tables to the facility and to triple the existing amount of slot machines.
Ajax Downs is the home to 800 slot machines, and officials with the organization are worried that the facility’s future is in jeopardy
(With files from Gaming Post)
it never ceases to surprise
it never ceases to surprise me when I see govt's intervention to a new venture that will be detrimental to already existing business. there are only so many pieces of the pie ... or revenue dollars in a marketplace. while I was in the transport industry before it was de-regulated, new applicants and existing motor carriers intending to expand licensing, had to prove public necessity and convenience. right now the quarter horse race industry has 1 track and also runs races at Fort Erie ... a thoroughbred track which is 1 of only 2 thoroughbred tracks in Ontario. can govt ... please do your market research & analysis prior to any decision making to new ventures and please, prove out that you can, in fact, move into a market place without any disruption to existing businesses to share in revenue dollars in a positive manner, should there be a lack of supply in a market place for new services. competing for the same dollars with a new enterprise could very well wipe out any profit margin, if any, to existing business and should that existing business run below break even and move into a loss position ... it means shutting the doors. so ... is govt, with its vast capital, going to take a blind eye approach to opening up in Pickering. is there not somewhere else in the province, in particular say eastern Ontario, that would benefit, and perhaps greatly, if you opened up in an area that could use the stimulation of business entering in an area that very well needs new business and jobs and capital influx. the economy has slowed down and new ventures are appreciated to enter in without breaking other businesses out of the market place. please re-consider not opening in Pickering. Ontario is huge ... there must be somewhere else in this vast province that the OLG can do this intended project. I, for one, would love to see more entry into eastern Ontario, and especially expand the horse race industry here too. we recently moved from southern Ontario to eastern Ontario and we see the need for new ventures. I hope you will reconsider your position. GOD Bless and Guide you ... Randy
... a thoroughbred and standardbred owner.