Greater Sudbury says Gateway Casinos looking at temporary location

The City of Greater Sudbury says Gateway Casinos may be considering a temporary location while it waits for development of the Kingsway Entertainment District.

The project is facing delays because of appeals to the provincial Local Planning Appeal Tribunal, or LPAT.

The Kingsway Entertainment District, or KED, will see an arena/events centre, a casino and a hotel built on a parcel of land along the Kingsway, in the east part of Sudbury.

Several local groups are appealing the project. It's currently making its way through the provincial LPAT process.

On Tuesday, city staff confirmed to councillors that Gateway Casinos may be looking for a temporary location.

"Gateway has confirmed their commitment to building at the Kingsway Entertainment District site," CAO Ed Archer said.

"They are considering all options, including a temporary location."

Councillors had a number of questions, including many on zoning. Councillor Robert Kirwan says he worries that a temporary location will become the permanent location.

"My understanding is there would be no obligation on it being a temporary site, it is a site," he said.

"There doesn't have to be a commitment to it being temporary or permanent, but basically when you're establishing on that site it could become permanent."

Project director David Shelsted told councillors they don't have much more information.

"Any businesses faced with delays, and we know that their lease expires at their current site at a predetermined time, that they're considering what options are before them because they're a private business," he said.

"They haven't shared with us what they're doing with their private business, so we can't comment any further."

A report from CTV last week suggested Kingsway Entertainment District developer Dario Zulich is buying the Chateau Guay motel on the Kingsway, to turn that into a temporary site for Gateway.

Neither Gateway or the developer would confirm that.

However, there are concerns the Kingsway Entertainment District will be significantly delayed because of the outstanding appeals. It was originally supposed to be completed by 2020.