Downtown Ottawa Casino - Page 3

jitterbug · #41 Posted **Mar 14, 2012, 4:58 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

That means that the casino needs to be located within walking distance of the major downtown hotels and the convention centre. This kind of location will also support our LRT plans in promoting transit use during off-peak hours.

I totally agree with this. A casino is a great opportunity to breathe new life into Ottawa's downtown core. Still, I'm not sure how many tourists would actually visit a casino since people can do that just about anywhere these days, and Ottawa has other, more unique attractions for tourists. My guess is most patrons will be locals as they are now at Rideau Carleton.

Transportation issues aside, a redeveloped Lansdowne Park with a casino (see my post above) could soon be viewed as an "entertainment hub" for the entire National Capital Region.

phil235 · #42 Posted **Mar 14, 2012, 5:01 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by reidjr

How would it be negative?

Well, as some have pointed out, there is some evidence showing that casinos have a negative impact in the form of increased crime in the area. There are also other potentially negative social impacts with respect to the problem clientele that is invevitably drawn to a casino.

Whether or not those claims are true, I find casinos to be very inward-looking. For the most part, they are self-contained entities with restaurants, entertainment shopping all facing an internal space. For security reasons, there are limited entrances and exits. Because of that fact, I am doubtful of the ability of a casino to revitalize an area. As a general rule, large, inward-looking complexes tend to have a very negative impact on their surroundings.

Kitchissippi · #43 Posted **Mar 14, 2012, 5:04 PM**

The closest to downtown I'd put a casino would be the Trainyards. It'll be lipstick on that pig. Maybe then people will stop complaining that the VIA station is in the middle of nowhere. Surrounded by industrial areas, there would be less NIMBYs to contend with. Controlex sounds like the kind of company that would jump at that opportunity

S-Man · #44 Posted **Mar 14, 2012, 11:12 PM**

Controlex loves...power.....

Yeah, I'm not seeing a casino being built downtown in any area, especially given there's not many places to put it, if at all.

The stupidest idea would be to put it at Scotiabank! Holy crap what a dumb idea. I get the whole hockey scene, but it's so far out there, such a nuisance, and completely car-centric. there would also be zero spillover from hull.

Trainyards makes some sense, as it's already a huge eyesore. may as well shine up that turd with a big, sparkly diamond of cheesiness.

reidjr · #45 Posted **Mar 14, 2012, 11:15 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by S-Man

Controlex loves...power.....

Yeah, I'm not seeing a casino being built downtown in any area, especially given there's not many places to put it, if at all.

The stupidest idea would be to put it at Scotiabank! Holy crap what a dumb idea. I get the whole hockey scene, but it's so far out there, such a nuisance, and completely car-centric. there would also be zero spillover from hull.

Trainyards makes some sense, as it's already a huge eyesore. may as well shine up that turd with a big, sparkly diamond of cheesiness.

I don't think it would be stupid to put it in Kanata should it be the first choice no but it could work.

Kitchissippi · #46 Posted **Mar 15, 2012, 1:50 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by S-Man

The stupidest idea would be to put it at Scotiabank! Holy crap what a dumb idea. I get the whole hockey scene, but it's so far out there, such a nuisance, and completely car-centric. there would also be zero spillover from hull.

The Olympiques play in in the heart of Hull, the Sens play in Kanata, why do the people from the Quebec side make the trek out to Scotiabank Place? It's all about the calibre of the game. Build Vegas-upon-Carp and Celine Dion will come.

Seems like some people are thinking about it though:
Senators betting on Scotiabank Place casino?

ajldub · #47 Posted **Mar 15, 2012, 2:03 AM**

Some good points made here... I like the airport location best. Minimize negative impact on a surrounding area, potential for an upscale hotel, close enough to the core to take a taxi or maybe someday light rail, and wave it under the noses of everybody that flies in and out of the city. The nimbys will come out in full force against Dow's and Lansdowne, I'd take those ideas out back and shoot them now. The old John Carling site has the potential to be a fantastic cultural institution site one day, like a new museum or something similar. It would be a much better fit than a casino, too...

JCL · #48 Posted **Mar 15, 2012, 3:07 AM**

What about inside Rideau Centre? I hear that Sears is closing soon and that might not be a bad location in my opinion.

jitterbug · #49 Posted **Mar 15, 2012, 8:25 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by JCL

What about inside Rideau Centre? I hear that Sears is closing soon and that might not be a bad location in my opinion.

You're kidding right? A casino in a downtown shopping complex? Almost as implausible as putting it in the government conference centre (union station), across the street from Chateau Laurier, as at least one council member has suggested. (Could you imagine a casino on the Mall in Washington D.C.?)

MaxHeadroom · #50 Posted **Mar 16, 2012, 2:34 AM**

This debate is moot, since as we all know in Ottawa, building any structure of remote significance takes years of:

Lobbying as to who is doing to build it
Debate as to who is going to design it and how they should be selected
Council, committee, and sub-committee meetings
Studying potential sites, along with traffic and storm water impacts
Moving the project to at least three other potential sites
OMB hearings, appeals, and more hearings
More council meetings and votes after the next municipal election
Lawsuits from NIMBYs
NCC (need I say more?)
Heritage designations

Bottom line, the current provincial government will be gone before a shovel even goes into the ground.

And of course, once it's built, the road and transportation network will be (of course) woefully inadequate, and only at such time will anything be considered to "upgrade" said network to a state just slightly below what was actually required in the first place. Of course they will charge for parking, if they even bother to provide it at all, and the neighbourhood streets will have draconian parking regulations to compensate.

AND then: don't forget the traffic calming!

eternallyme · #51 Posted **Mar 16, 2012, 2:59 AM**

The horse racing industry is mad right now. That is why I think a full casino at Rideau-Carleton is best, enhance them even more.

reidjr · #52 Posted **Mar 16, 2012, 10:53 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by eternallyme

The horse racing industry is mad right now. That is why I think a full casino at Rideau-Carleton is best, enhance them even more.

The thing is one casino is not going to save the industry.

eternallyme · #53 Posted **Mar 16, 2012, 1:57 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by reidjr

The thing is one casino is not going to save the industry.

No but if they put them all at those...

acottawa · #54 Posted **Mar 16, 2012, 9:31 PM**

I think what matters more than where is what kind of casino. Ontario has a habit of building trashy casinos in areas having a lot of economic problems that attract social problems (which could be Ottawa after the 29th).

There are lots of cities that have nice casinos that add to the urban landscape. It would be nice of the mayor would take a junket to see the mid-sized cities in australia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treasury_Casino
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casino_Canberra
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adelaide_Casino

JCL · #55 Posted **Mar 17, 2012, 3:00 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by jitterbug

You're kidding right? A casino in a downtown shopping complex? Almost as implausible as putting it in the government conference centre (union station), across the street from Chateau Laurier, as at least one council member has suggested. (Could you imagine a casino on the Mall in Washington D.C.?)

West Edmonton Mall has a Casino....

MountainView · #56 Posted **Mar 18, 2012, 2:12 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by JCL

West Edmonton Mall has a Casino....

I believe they were referring to the 'National Mall' which is essentially an open area, national park in the middle of Washington, DC. Aka the 'National Mall'. It would be like Confederation Park (much larger) and Confederation Boulevard all together.

J.OT13 · #57 Posted **Mar 18, 2012, 2:55 AM**

In the Ottawa Citizen, there was an article about past attempts that I found quite intresting about old Union Station;

Quote:

A Public Works spokesman said the federal government is “mandated” to operate the centre as a conference centre in support of government meetings and functions. It hosts an average of 800 events a year attracting about 20,000 people.

Read more: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/sports/...#ixzz1pQt2ppAq

If we do the math, it’s 800 events averaging 25 people... so pretty much high school class room. I'm not necessarily suggesting we convert it to a casino, but this is just another argument why we should do something public and useful with this building (more so now with the Bank of Montreal building on wellington and O’Connor is being converted in to a, well… conference centre

).

JackBauer24 · #58 Posted **Mar 29, 2012, 4:59 PM**

I say the City takes back the land from Claridge at LeBreton Flats - as a penalty for building such a poor, poor project on such a wonderful piece of land - and build the Casino there.

But in all seriousness, Ottawa needs to focus on other major city changes before it turns its attention to a Casino. The LTR and Lansdowne have to be sorted out.

And regarding the negative impact a Casino might have - it really depends on the type of casino you build. I think the Lac Leamy Casino is quite nice, brings in great events and the crowd that it draws in aren't the criminal low-lifes you see in old Vegas movies. Build something similar in Ottawa and you won't have an issue with crime.

lrt's friend · #59 Posted **Mar 29, 2012, 5:56 PM**

Why is crime even being brought up? Crime relates to illegal gambling. Where do we find crime ridden casinos? Las Vegas is very vigilant about keeping crime away from its casinos as the city's reputation as a tourist destination is on the line every day.

LeadingEdgeBoomer · #60 Posted **Mar 29, 2012, 6:46 PM**

lrts friend wrote;

Quote:

Why is crime even being brought up? Crime relates to illegal gambling. Where do we find crime ridden casinos? Las Vegas is very vigilant about keeping crime away from its casinos as the city's reputation as a tourist destination is on the line every day.

Vigilant now, but in the early days the LV casino business had a rep for being infiltrated by organized crime. A rep that was reinforced in the publc mind by Hollywood movies such as Casino

So, there is still a concept lingering in many people's mind that casinos have a crime component, even though it has never been proven that it was ever true in the Canadian context.

Mind you, casinos still have to be vigilant about criminals trying to launder money at casinos. You have ten thousand dollars in illegally gotten funds that you need to account for. You go into casinos and buy a lot of high denomination chips and play for a while. You may lose ten percent as a cost of doing business. Then you cash in the rest of your chips and ask for cheque. Now you tell everyone, including cops, that you got your money by winning at a casino and show a copy of a cheque to prove it. Of course casinos now keep track of high rollers and a look out for known money launderers.