Chances Owner Says Building Won't Go Empty
By 250 News
Tuesday, July 29, 2008 04:01 AM
Prince George, B.C. - The owner of the Chances Gaming Centre, John Major, says his decision to apply to move the seats and slots out of the downtown facility to the Treasure Cove is purely business . (See previous story Gaming Centre Looking to Move) The application for the move has been made to the City's Planning Department.
The Good Time Bingo hall had been one of the top three bingo revenue producers three years in a row, but Major says the move to the new site resulted in a slump “Revenue is down 20-25% in Bingo, and the facility is too big now that the smoking regulations have changed.” He says the regulations changed when Chances was already under construction and the initial plan provided enough space for smoking and non smoking sections.
There were other issues with the gaming centre. “Our bingo players liked being close to the caller, and with the slots in the building, well they thought it was too hard to hear the caller” says Major.
He would like to incorporate a bingo hall in the design for the new show lounge that will be built at the Treasure Cove Casino. His vision is for a smaller, cozy, bingo hall. Major says the request to move isn’t one that would add any seats “For simplicity, we just asked to move the existing number of seats and slots to the Treasure Cove, we just thought that would be the easiest way to do it.”
The new 30 thousand square foot Chances Gaming Centre opened March 26th, the building cost $14 million dollars of which $2 million went towards the parkade, the City pumped a further $3 million into that underground parking lot. Major says there is another million dollars worth of equipment in the building.
While Chances did put in an application to get a tax break from the City under the downtown revitalization plan, Major says he doesn’t think they will pursue that avenue. He also adds he fully intends on honouring the commitment to build condos that were part of the downtown block development plan. “We will go ahead and build those condos, either later this year or in 2009, but we will honour our commitment to build them.”
Still, with all the money that has already been invested, and the new dollars needed to build another facility at the casino, Major admits it is a lot of cash to walk away from “It is a big chunk of cash, and I figure we will have to eat about half of it, but I can’t worry about that , I have to think about the positive side, and that is, it is a beautiful building and it is a legacy for downtown.” He is confident the building won’t be vacant “I already have a couple of interested parties who think it would be perfect for a commercial mini mall, and if they don’t follow through with it, then we will do it.” He says the building will not sit empty “The bank would string us up” says Major.
So, what if City Council says no to moving the bingo seats and slots to the Treasure Cove? “I don’t want to think that way, I want to be positive. I can say that to consolidate with the Casino will give long term stability to not only myself, but to the charities in the community, so it is important for us and our charities.”
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Posted by: BCRacer on July 29 2008 7:57 AM
If the Performance centre moves in I feel sorry for all those people who thought there was going to be an adequate study and find / build the proper building. Instead they will be getting a bingo haul modified to work as a theater. In that case, spend the money on modifying the playhouse and don't add another building to the cities inventory.