Owners of Windsor Raceway have applied to open an off-track betting facility in central Windsor.

Winrac Development Inc. informed Windsor city council of its application Monday night at council.

The corporation intends to locate the off-track betting site at Club Alouette, a non-profit organization at 2418 Central Ave.

“The [Ontario Racing Commission] approval process includes notification to the municipality of the impending application,” Winrac president Pat Soulliere wrote to council.

Soulliere told CBC News that Windsor Raceway is a huge building and the ownership group had "to look at the economics of maintaining a building of this size."

Off-track betting will no longer be available at Windsor Raceway once the track's licence expires at the end of August.

"In order to preserve some wagering activities for the patrons and our followers ... we made an application to the ORC to locate a teletheatre in Windsor so the betting public can still place wagers," Soulliere said.

Waiting for approval

Winrac, which already operates an off-track betting site in Chatham, made the application for the Windsor site three weeks ago. It has not been approved. So there will be a pause in off-track betting availability in Windsor.

"Hopefully it will come very, very soon. Then, we can move forward," Soulliere said. "We’re just waiting on approval from the Ontario Racing Commission."

Coun. Percy Hatfield said council has no say in whether the application is approved.

“The people who do this licensing say you must inform your municipality of your intentions and that’s what we were informed of last night,” Hatfield first told CBC Windsor’s Tony Doucette on the Early Shift.

Hatfield said council held out “faint hope that Windsor Raceway would remain open,” but this latest development has put an end to that.

Hatfield said the off-track site would mean no additional revenue for the city because it’s a provincial licence.

Club Alouette president Reggie Boulienne is excited by the opportunity. He said business isn't as brisk as it used to be for the club that was once sandwiched between two Chrysler plants — only Windsor Assembly Plant remains in the area.

"We were not expecting it. It came out of the blue. It fell from Heaven for us," he said of the betting. "I’m very happy for the club. It’s something we need. It will bring a lot of traffic to the club."

Track 'mothballed'

Soulliere said Windsor Raceway will be "mothballed" at the end of the month.

"We have no plans for the building at this point. We have no plans for the property at this point," Soulliere said. "The industry is still dealing with what happens in the future with regard to horse racing in this province. This is a racetrack."

Soulliere said no immediate plans for Windsor Raceway have been discussed.

The Ontario Racing Commission would only say Winrac's application is "under review."