Terrace mulls casino plans as part of larger desire to become centre of Northwest convention industry

Plans for a proposed casino complex
in Terrace could have an impact
on the Gaming Centre in Prince Rupert

Gambling in the province was the topic of a segment of the CBC Radio program BC Almanac on Thursday afternoon and part of the noon hour portion of the program featured a look at a proposed Casino/Hotel/Convention Centre complex being considered for the Terrace area, with Terrace Mayor Carol Leclerc providing some interesting observations related to what may soon come to the Northwest.

Among one of the key portions of Mayor Leclerc's contribution to the conversation with the CBC's Gloria Macarenko was a review of the current building boom in Terrace when it comes to hotel accommodation, with three new hotels currently under construction, as well as one another hotel application in the works.

That list does not include the fairly extensive plans from the owners of the current Chances location in Terrace, which would see a high end hotel and convention centre added to the building plan for a new Casino location in that community.

Terrace Mayor Carol Leclerc
outlined for BC Almanac listeners
some of the plans fora proposed
major hotel/casino/
hotel development in the city  

Mayor Leclerc did note that the issue has not been discussed at Terrace Council to any extent to this point, a scheduled presentation from the proponents had to be cancelled owing to travel issues in May, however the topic is destined to be considered again by Terrace officials.

At the moment the proposed hotel/casino/convention centre concept which has been suggested for the old Co-op land in the downtown area of the city is the backdrop to discussions between the City of Terrace,  Superior Lodging a Calgary company that has already expressed an interest in that site and Pomeroy Lodging, the Grand Prairie hotel ground that currently operates Terrace's Chances Gaming Centre.

Mayor Leclerc also retraced some  of the past discussions in Terrace surrounding previous attempts to expand the current Gaming Centre in the community, applications which didn't gain much traction with City Council at the time.

However, in the case of the latest proposal, Mayor Leclerc, noted that this time around the scope of the development and the prospect that a High end hotel, Casino and Convention Centre might be something that would complement the growing number of hotel rooms to soon open in the community.

Information related to the proposed development is posted on the Terrace City Council website, you can review what Pomeroy has in mind for the city here.

The major elements of the proposal would be the 10,000 square foot convention facility, 100 room executive level hotel, 18,000 square foot gaming centre with slot machines, table games, poker room, bingo room and event stage.

As well, the Pomeroy proposal notes the potential for partnership with the Skeena Brewing Company to integrate a planned brew house into the facility, as well as an outdoor public space at the corner of Greig Avenue and Kalum Street.

Pomeroy Lodging has provided details of a proposed
Casino/Convention Centre/Hotel complex for the
downtown are of Terrace

During the course of her review of the proposal, Mayor Leclerc pointed to Terrace's location as a "hub of the Northwest" and a natural destination for area residents, observing that the only other gaming centre in the region is located in Prince Rupert.

The Terrace Mayor also observed that such a development might add to level of people from the surrounding area that will make Terrace a travel destination.

The introduction of a larger casino operation an hour and half to the east might be something that could have some impact on the Prince Rupert gaming centre, with the prospect of some of the weekend participation at the Prince Rupert Chances perhaps migrating to the east should the hotel/convention/casino plan ever come to completion in Terrace.

You can listen to the full segment from the CBC BC Almanac podcast Ms. Leclerc's contribution takes place at the twelve minute point.

Some background on the proposed development can be found below:

Hotel Casino complex possibility intensifies

More background on the casino/hotel question and other issues in Terrace can be found on our Terrace archive page.

Further items related to the Northwest Commercial sector can be found on our archive page.