A move by Ontario Lottery and Gaming to close under-performing slot operations has started with the closure of the Hiawatha Slots in Sarnia.
More than 200 employees were told of the closure this morning.
Slot operations at race tracks in Windsor and Fort Erie are also closing.
The closures are part of OLG’s program to revamp gaming in the province and bring facilities closer to potential customer bases including the Greater Toronto Area.
Wednesday morning’s announcement only covers slot operations in Sarnia, Windsor and Fort Erie.
No word from OLG on when — or if — an announcement might be made concerning the slots at Hanover and Clinton Raceway.
The Clinton Raceway is eagerly anticipating this month’s provincial budget in the hopes it will have more information on plans for individual Slots facilities.
Raceway Manager Ian Fleming says the raceway currently receives ten percent of revenues from the Clinton Slots with another ten percent going to the local horse racing industry.
He says they’ll have to make some major changes to the operation of the racetrack and even more if the Clinton facility ends up being shut down by the province.
Fleming says if that was the case, they’d likely only be able to operate for a few days in the summer.
He says they get about 20-thousand visitors to the raceway throughout the summer season and employ an average of 60 people on a race day.
Fleming says they also stable 80 horses in Clinton through the entire year and workers are on site every day to keep them maintained.