ChCh Casino

Temporary ChCh Casino site 'not an option'

PAUL GORMAN

Last updated 05:00 05/04/2011

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Christchurch Earthquake 2011

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The Christchurch Casino has ruled out any move to temporary premises and hopes to reopen its central-city site by the middle of next month.

Casino employees have until 5pm today to let management know if they want to receive this week a four-week redundancy payout.

The 538 staff have been asked to consider an alternative arrangement in which they use accrued holidays and then take leave without pay until the casino reopens.

Chief executive Brett Anderson said staff had been fully paid since the February 22 earthquake.

He said the casino, owned equally by Skyline Enterprises and SkyCity, suffered some damage in the magnitude-6.3 quake.

It was off-limits because it was inside the inner-city cordon, within the fall zone of the Copthorne Hotel in Durham St and and close to other unstable buildings, including the New Zealand College of Early Childhood Education and BDO House in Victoria St.

The casino has been given a yellow sticker, but Anderson said it would take about a month to clean up the damage, none of which was substantial.

Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee had suggested the casino might be able to operate elsewhere, and restrictions on its location in its licence could be overcome in special earthquake legislation.

Anderson said that was not an option. It was logistically impractical to have casino equipment on a temporary site and still meet legal requirements. "Our goal is to open back up in the city and play a part in the revitalisation of the city."

He did not want to predict when the casino might reopen, although the latest information suggested it could be mid-May.

"It's quite speculative. I want to give people hope, but not false hope," he said.

Since Saturday, more than a third of staff had responded to the employment options raised, he said. Three-quarters of those had said they wanted to use their holidays and take leave without pay.

Anderson informed staff on Saturday that it was no longer financially viable for the casino to keep paying $410,000 a week in pay.

Prime Minister John Key said after yesterday's Cabinet meeting: "They have a site-specific licence, so it's difficult for them to operate from somewhere else."