Operator News
France – Rouen reclassified as a tourist resort allowing it to open a casino
By Phil - 13 July 2018
The city council of the French city of Rouen, the capital of the northern region of Normandy, has approved an application to reclassify the city as a tourist resort to enable it to establish a casino.
These recent steps to open a casino are part of a comprehensive project to rehabilitate the banks of the Seine, called “Reinventing the Seine”.
The Eiffage group was responsible for the legal aspect of this file. According to Christine Rambaud, deputy mayor in charge of tourism,Rouen has 650,000 inhabitants. It would then be part of the Chaban-Delmas amendment to the law on decentralization, which allows “cities or tourist resorts with more than 500,000 inhabitants and where the operation of a national drama center, a national orchestra and an opera theater with a regular seasonal activity of at least twenty performances ” to open a casino.
Rouen hasn’t had a national drama center since 2013.
The future casino would have 1,000 m2 dedicated to slot machines and 390 m2 to gaming tables, with a parking space of 540 places. The plan is renovate the city’s old wine cellar, which was one of the largest in Europe, which will cost €50m. The company behind the plans, the Eiffage group, says the casino will create 300 jobs. The casino is expected to open in 2020 or early 2021, according to the town hall.
