Point Edward to get US$20 million investment

Nearly US$20 million will be spent in the rebranding of the Point Edward venue as one of the new owners’ Starlight Casinos.

Canada.- The Gateway Casinos and Entertainment Point Edward Casino will undergo a series of refurbishments in order to be rebranded as one of Starlight Casinos. Gateway Casinos, the new owners, want to transform the venue to go along with its current line of gaming facilities and will invest about US$20 million in it.

CEO of Gateway Casinos Tony Santo announced that the work will begin with the addition of a family-friendly restaurant, The Observer reported. He also explained that it is the company’s first large redevelopment project in the area: “It really is special for us as a company to get started and embrace Ontario, and really take some of the things we learned in British Columbia and bring them here,” he explained.

Renovations will also include a new gaming floor and a buffet in place of its existing restaurant.

“We have about 11 different locations and we plan on spending on over US$230 million dollars in Ontario through the next three years,” Santo said and explained that they want to change “the model of gaming in this province.”

Point Edward Mayor Bev Hand said he was excited about the deal and commented that the announcement is even better than expected. According to Hand, village officials met with company representatives once it was chosen to take over the group, knowing “it would be competing with Gateway’s other locations for the new investment the company was planning.”

Tony Santo explained that they hope to attract more US visitors with the renovations, in addition to the possibility to create more jobs in the area. However, he didn’t want to confirm that since they’re “redeploying some of the staff here and making sure everybody here is taken care of first.”