New Penticton casino officially under construction

PENTICTON – Officials ceremoniously broke ground on the site of the new Penticton casino today.

The casino will be located in the southwest corner of the South Okanagan Events Centre property, incorporating the Wine Country tourist information centre.

Construction is expected to begin in earnest in the next few days on the $25-million project, which is expected to add 150 new jobs to the city.

The Cascades Casino will offer expanded entertainment venues and restaurant services, including a rooftop patio and several restaurants.

The ceremony today, May 13, also gave politicians an opportunity to note several other major projects just getting underway or about to get underway in the Peach City.

“Because of the hard work of (City Chief Adminsitrative Officer) Eric Sorenson and others, we have a wonderful new construction job here in Penticton,” MLA Dan Ashton said, noting green construction fences could be seen all over the city. “That means new developments, new taxpayers, new residences, filling those schools up."

“It’s a great day, Gateway Casinos has been a long time business in our community and it’s great to see this $25-million expansion,” Penticton Mayor Andrew Jakubeit said at the ceremony. “We’re thrilled as we look around the city and start to see a lot of construction development happening, we have a residential development in the south end of town, soon ground breaking on the new hospital tower, downtown revitalization going on and of course, today, ground breaking for this new casino.”

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