圣约翰将出现大改变

[SIZE="3"]Saint John residents can expect big changes at the city's Exhibition Park Raceway now that it's being leased by the newly created Horse Racing New Brunswick, according to the group's president Jamie Hachey.

[B][COLOR="Red"]Video lottery games[/COLOR][/B] are expected to be a big part of the raceway, since provincial gaming laws allow for 75 of them in the building. Hachey said gambling machines are just part of the plan.

"We're going to try and build a family entertainment complex. We want to go in that model. We want to put soccer fields in the infield for the racetrack, for the community. We're here to work with them," he said.

A restaurant and grandstand will also be a part of the proposed family entertainment complex, he said.

Hachey hopes to see construction start on those elements by next fall.

The Saint John Exhibition Association has been struggling to keep the raceway open in recent years because of stiff competition for gambling dollars, according to the association's secretary Charlie Swanton.

"It's more difficult now to make a bit of money on it, and in these days of [B][COLOR="red"]lottery machines [/COLOR][/B]and [B][COLOR="red"]video gambling machines[/COLOR][/B], you almost need a component of gambling machines in order to make harness racing successful," Swanton said.

On Friday, Horse Racing New Brunswick signed a lease to run the storied raceway.


On Friday, Horse Racing New Brunswick signed a lease to run the storied raceway.[/SIZE]