It appears the city is only a few months away from getting a clear indication about its proposed casino.
"It's still very much in play," Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) spokesman Tony Bitonti told BayToday this morning.
It comes on the heels of an announcement today that OLG has selected Ontario Gaming East as the service provider for the “East Gaming Bundle”. Great Canadian Gaming Corporation holds the majority interest in Ontario Gaming East LP.
Under the 20 year agreement, Ontario Gaming East will take over day-to-day operations of OLG Casino Thousand Islands and OLG Slots at Kawartha Downs and have the opportunity to build a new gaming and entertainment facility in Belleville or Quinte West.
See the full release here: https://media.olg.ca/?p=nmm_news_detail&i=1e199d2b-0868-4595-9750-5fc26c708eb4
North Bay is part of the Northern Bundle with Sudbury, Sault Ste. Marie, Thunder Bay and Kenora.
New facilities will be built in North Bay and Kenora, while existing facilities will be taken over by the service provider in the other three.
"Now that we've finished the East Bundle, we're going to start rolling out the other (six) gaming bundles in the coming months," explained Bitonti.
"In the Northern Bundle when we choose the service provider in the near future, they will automatically take over the day to day operations of Casino Sault Ste. Marie, Casino Thunder Bay, and the Slots at Sudbury Downs. Then they will proceed with a new building in North Bay and Kenora."
Bitonti says he doesn't have an exact time line.
The short list of service providers has been boiled down to five or less, and the same service provider can operate more than one bundle.
But the rule is that one service provider cannot operate more than 50 per cent of slot machines in Ontario.
It will be up to city council and the service provider where the new casino will be located says Bitonti.
"North Bay has been approached by various companies that are on the shortlist. They're talking about what does the municipality want in this gaming facility? Some (cities) want a convention centre, some want a hotel, some want an arena, some want it downtown, some don't want it downtown," Bitonti explained.
