View Royal Casino to double in size as part of major expansion plan

Demolition of exterior walls and roof areas has already begun. The project, which will add 42,000 square feet, is due for completion in the first half of 2018.

The cost has not been released, but a previous $20-million expansion plan was put on hold in 2015 when the B.C. Lottery Corp. said it was looking at the possibility of a second local casino. BCLC has since decided a prospective second casino would be built at a still-to-be-determined site in Victoria, which beat out other local jurisdictions as the location.

The View Royal casino opened in 2001 and is run by the Great Canadian Gaming Corp. It generated $71.8 million in revenue in the 2015-16 fiscal year and distributed $4.1 million to seven municipalities.

View Royal and Langford receive about 45 per cent each from the total, while the other 10 per cent is distributed among Esquimalt, the Highlands, Sooke, Metchosin and Colwood.

View Royal Mayor David Screech said the project will be good for the community.

“I’m really glad to see that they’ve actually got it underway,” he said Wednesday.

Screech said View Royal’s share of the casino funds is about $1.8 million per year.

“We use it mainly for capital projects,” he said. “We use it to pay for West Shore Parks and Recreation Society, for our annual fees in that.”

Screech said that BCLC has committed to the View Royal casino being the “destination gaming facility” in the region.

“We’re going to see a real destination, sort of mini-River Rock [Casino] type of idea.”

With the second casino, BCLC is continuing to evaluate possible service providers for the facility.

“Once an operator/service provider is selected, they will be responsible for finding an appropriate location and property within the boundaries of the city of Victoria,” BCLC said in a statement. “An appropriate location and would consider access from major arterials, available square footage, available parking and must be approved by BCLC.

“At that time BCLC will work with the service provider to develop a casino for the City of Victoria’s approval.”

The Crystal Garden had been considered as a potential casino site, but BCLC decided that it would be too challenging to remodel. Since city policy does not allow casinos to be standalone developments, they have to be combined with something else, such as a hotel.

Under terms of the Gaming Control Act, Victoria would have to consider community input once a design and proposal for a new casino is complete, BCLC said, and the ultimate decision of whether or not a casino is wanted lies with local government.

BCLC said Victoria was chosen as a possible casino location because it has “the greatest opportunity to capture the existing untapped market” in the southeast part of the region.