Gateway Casinos is heading to Sudbury’s planning committee next week as it seeks road improvements into the site of a new casino it has planned on The Kingsway. The report for the Aug. 11 meeting on the plan says Gateway is proposing to build a 60,000-square-foot casino at the 19-acre site, with a hotel also being part of the development to accommodate the casino’s guests. The plan would see Gateway fund a 100-metre road – ‘Street A’ in the report – upfront, with the city refunding 96.3 per cent of the construction costs, up to a maximum of $3,035,210. The remaining $357,548 would be eligible for development charge credits. “Any costs over the maximum amounts will be borne by the developer,” said a staff report on the plan. The report said the city’s share of the road costs will be offset by the roughly $2 million a year it receives as its share of gaming revenue from the casino, which is currently located in Chelmsford. The casino will be built at 2550 The Kingsway, more commonly known as the Kingsway Entertainment District. A decade ago, the city was planning to build a new $100 million events centre at the site and share costs with Gateway. However, a years-long legal battle by groups opposed to moving the arena out of downtown Sudbury lasted until the COVID-19 pandemic hit, causing the budget to balloon to more than $200 million. The city cancelled the Kingsway project just before the 2022 municipal election. Newly elected Mayor Paul Lefebvre decided to build the now $200 million events centre downtown. A new library and art gallery is being built inside Tom Davies Square. Gateway was hit hard by revenue loss during the pandemic, when people were forced to stay home. The company has since built and opened a new casino in North Bay. Sudbury Wolves owner Dario Zulich owns the 173-acre Kingsway site, which is located near Levesque Street and Vanguard Drive in the Moonlight Beach area of Greater Sudbury. The road Gateway is proposing to build would connect the casino and hotel to The Kingsway with a signalized intersection. The company is also planning to build water, sanitary sewer and stormwater infrastructure for the site. “Advancing the intersection as part of the casino/hotel project would allow this planned transportation infrastructure to be in place before additional development occurs, providing a coordinated framework for future growth,” the staff report said. “The intersection will not only serve current users of the casino but will also support the long-term transportation needs of future employees, residents, businesses and visitors within the broader Kingsway corridor.” While Gateway hasn’t said when it plans to open the new casino, the planning staff report said the road would have to be completed within two years if it receives planning committee approval. Read the full report here.
