The Crystal Garden convention center in Victoria, British Columbia is no longer considered a potential site for the region’s second casino, local officials announced.
Commenting on the matter, Deputy City Manager Jocelyn Jenkyns explained that they had been notified by the British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC), known to be the organization in charge of the provision of gambling services around the province, that repurposing Crystal Garden to accommodate a casino would be overly painstaking.
Parking was another issue pointed by the BCLC as a reason for their decision to remove the convention center from the list of potential sites, although Ms. Jenkyns noted that Crystal Garden actually has an underground parking.
A spokesperson for the gambling corporation told local media that no final decisions have been made in regards to where the capital region’s second casino would be located.
Of Crystal Garden being taken out of competition, Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps said that this decision would likely be welcomed by many residents, as the City Council had been sent emails by Victoria citizens, particularly ones from the area that would have potentially hosted the gambling venue, with those voicing concerns and opposition to that possibility.
The BCLC announced earlier this year that Victoria had been selected to host the region’s second casino, with View Royal Casino being the first one. It is still unknown when the new gambling venue will open doors. Among other things, the gambling corporation will need to find a partner that would run the new casino on its behalf.
It is also important to note that neither the area hosting Crystal Garden, nor any other area in Victoria has been zoned to feature a casino. In other words, the preferred location for the new gambling venue will have to be rezoned so as to be able to accommodate such a property. Aside from Victoria, the Saanich District has been chosen as another potential host to the casino.
As the capital region is somewhat slowly progressing towards having its second gambling facility, news spread that View Royal Casino will be expanded significantly. Construction work on the expansion project is set to begin in 2017 and to be completed in the first half of 2018.
The plan includes the addition of 350 more slot machines and electronic games and of 12 more table games to the casino floor, as well as of a 600-seat entertainment venue and more food and beverage options.
