If all goes according to plan, a $90-million Coquitlam casino expansion will be completed next summer, says a spokesman for the company that owns and operates the facility.

Howard Blank, executive director of media and public relations for Great Canadian Gaming Corp., said the $90-million upgrade will be completed in the second or third quarter of 2005.

Vancouver-based Great Canadian won approval from Coquitlam city council last week to expand its facility on United Boulevard to 71,000 square metres from 3,400 square metres.

In addition to an estimated 300 new slot machines, the upgrades include a new 1,000-car parkade, restaurants and an entertainment area that can be converted “with the push of a button” for concerts, lounge shows and conventions.

Executive director of media and PR Howard Blank.

“The entertainment is taking up far more space (than the slots),” said Blank, adding activities will range from major acts to community events.

Blank said he does not know how many slots will be installed, adding his company will work with B.C. Lotteries Corp. to determine the final number.

“They own the machines,” he noted.

But reports have indicated the expanded facility will contain 300 slots. The facility already has 450 slots.

Blank said Great Canadian sought the expansion because it wanted to provide a more complete entertainment experience for its customers.

“Our mandate as we grow is to provide more entertainment,” said Blank, adding the company wants to provide several more options than just slots.

In addition to people from Coquitlam, he said, the casino hopes to attract patrons from the nearby Fraser Valley and will make a strong effort to bring in busloads of American tourists.

“When we opened up Richmond,” said Blank, referring to the company’s new Riverport casino, “we had more buses from the States in one month than we had in one year in Coquitlam.”

Illustration courtesy of Chris Dikeakos Architects, Inc.
Great Canadian Gaming Corp.’s Coquitlam casino is on track for expansion of its facilities with a $90-million upgrade.

Blank said he also expects the expanded Coquitlam facility to spur new development, noting new restaurants and other businesses moved into the area after the casino opened in 2001.

Coquitlam city council must approve the company’s development plans and permit applications. Great Canadian barely gained approval for its original Coquitlam casino, after Mayor Jon Kinsbury’s vote in favour of it broke a deadlock among councillors.

But Blank suggested the approval process in Coquitlam has been much easier than it was in Vancouver a few weeks ago, when it gained approval to install more slots in, and expand, the Hastings Park thoroughbred racetrack.

Special public forums on the racetrack proposal attracted more speakers than any other event in Vancouver’s history.

“It’s sort of comparing apples and oranges,” said Blank. “We purposely built in an industrial area in Coquitlam so we wouldn’t have problems with noise with people who lived in the area.”

In addition to the racetrack and the Coquitlam casino, Great Canadian Gaming, a public company that trades on the TSX exchange (GCD), has five other casinos, several licensed restaurants and a marina operation in B.C.

It also owns four gaming and restaurant-entertainment sites in the State of Washington through its American subsidiary, Great American Gaming Corp.

(Monte Stewart can be reached at monte@businessedge.ca)