The Mayor of Niagara Falls says he's relieved and excited the city's casinos are reopening next week.
Jim Diodati says the city has lost nearly $20M in revenue for hosting the facilities, since they closed in March of 2020.
"It's been in the area of 20 million dollars, and we still don't know exactly the impact since they will open up gradually. No one knows what to expect since the casinos have never been closed ever."
He says that doesn't include the economic impact the closures have had on the area in general.
Over 1000 Niagara casino employees have been called back to work with Casino Niagara and Fallsview Casino Resort reopening next Friday at 10am.
The casinos employed over 4000 people prior to the pandemic.
Casinos are allowed to reopen at 50% capacity this Friday as Ontario enters Step 3 of its reopening plan.
Click here to listen to our full interview with Mayor Diodati.