The closest casino to Airdrie has once again closed its doors due to new public health restrictions enacted province-wide Dec. 13.
Casinos were among a slate of entertainment-themed businesses ordered to close during a Dec. 8 press conference held by Premier Jason Kenney. Other businesses included bingo halls, gaming entertainment centres, racing entertainment centres, horse racing tracks, raceways, bowling alleys, pool halls and legions.
The new closures intend to stem an ongoing spike of COVID-19 that has seen case rates soar to more than 20,000 active cases in Alberta and more than 700 deaths, as of Dec. 14.
“If stronger action is not taken now, we know that hundreds or potentially thousands of Albertans will die," Kenney said. "We cannot let that happen."
The Century Downs Racetrack and Casino, in East Balzac, closed at midnight Dec. 12, according to Marketing Manager Karen Franco. The facility is the closest casino to Airdrie city limits.
“We’ll be utilizing our social media pages to keep people up to date, in terms of whatever information comes down from the government in the coming weeks, and how that impacts us,” she said.
This marks the second time in 2020 that Century Downs has had to close to the public, after the facility was shut down from mid-March until June, during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. After a three-month closure, the casino reopened June 13, with new health and safety measures in effect to help prevent the spread of the virus.
The measures included a reduced capacity and various public health protocols, including mandatory mask-wearing, frequent sanitization of surfaces and touchpoints and setting up barriers between gambling machines.
“We had capacity restrictions and then all the machines were socially distanced, equipped with Plexiglas guards for extra safety,” Franco said. “We don’t have table games here, but table games were not allowed to operate in casinos in Alberta.”
Century Downs’ 5.5 furlong racetrack, which hosts live horse racing every week during the thoroughbred and standardbred racing seasons, is also subject to the government's restrictions.
“There is no horse racing, as that closed [Dec. 12] as well, so there’s no online option for horse racing, either,” Franco said.
“Like everyone, we look forward to seeing everyone in the new year. We hope these are the measures that will be needed and we’ll turn things around for the entire community. We, like everyone else, are keeping our fingers crossed and hoping the new year brings some good news.”
According to Gambling Insider, during the first wave of the pandemic, the Alberta government expected to lose nearly $900 million in revenue for 2020 due to casino shutdowns, as gaming revenue fell from a predicted $1.4 billion to approximately $500 million.
Scott Strasser, AirdrieToday.com
Follow me on Twitter @scottstrasser19
