Gateway Casino & Entertainment’s new Cascades Casino North Bay will open to the public in a soft launch on Wednesday, March 9.

“We’re very excited about this,” said Rob Mitchell, Gateway’s Director of Communications and Public Affairs, via My North Bay Now. “This is not our grand opening, we’re calling it a soft opening. But, it’ll be the first time the folks in North Bay can actually come to Gateway Cascades Casino on Pinewood Park Drive.”

It’s been a long wait for Gateway and for North Bay. The groundbreaking took place on May 31, 2019, and was initially supposed to be open in summer 2020 before the pandemic derailed that timeline, causing an almost two-year delay in the opening of the $31 million casino.

“This will also mark the fourth Match restaurant opening in Ontario, a signature brand of ours on the west coast,” Mitchell added, per BayToday . “We’re slowly bringing that brand to Ontario. We currently have them in Hanover and Chatham and Point Edward and this is the latest Match Eatery and Public House which is a mix of nightclub and sports bar.”

The 39,000 sq. ft. casino will feature 300 slots and six live table games of Roulette, Blackjack and 10 electronic table games, reports BayToday.

“We’ve got everything from roulette to blackjack to a wide variety of slots under all kinds of different denominations of play, Mitchell added, via My North Bay Now. “We’ve got electronic table games, there’s lots and lots of variety.”

There will also be live entertainment and a large ‘sun-drenched’ patio that customers can travel freely into the restaurant and beyond, even onto the gaming floor. The “Summit Bar” runs the entire length of the gaming floor.

Mitchell said that the casino has already brought about 200 new jobs to North Bay and is still doing some hiring.

“We’ve been running what is best described as a boot camp,” he added. “We’ve been running staff in the facility both on the gaming floor and our kitchen and restaurant staff. Testing the food, going through the menu, doing the food preparation and sharing with the staff to work through the menu and that kind of training.”

A grand opening will be planned for a later date.