WINDSOR | Construction - News and Development - Page 23

Border City Boy · #**441** Posted **Dec 22, 2006, 1:23 AM**

Ask and you shall receive...

Border City Boy · #**442** Posted **Dec 22, 2006, 1:24 AM**

... Looks like Blitz beat me to it...

Thats OK, mine's bigger....

Blitz · #**443** Posted **Dec 22, 2006, 1:49 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by upinottawa

So who is scanning that rendering?

Dude, I posted it 10 hours before you wrote this, lol.

Am I the only one who thinks it looks hideous, especially with all those Caesars signs...it's gonna dominate the skyline unfortunately.

upinottawa · #**444** Posted **Dec 22, 2006, 12:52 PM**

Blitz & BCB, thanks for the rendering. Blitz, my office blocks out photobucket pictures, so I had no idea it was posted!

upinottawa · #**445** Posted **Dec 22, 2006, 2:25 PM**

Border road called dead end
Essex Terminal president says ring route on rail land is a non-starter

Dave Battagello, Windsor Star
Published: Friday, December 22, 2006

Ambassador Bridge authorities and owner Matty Moroun should stop touting a west-end rail corridor as its future access route because they have no legal ability to convert it into a roadway, says the president of Essex Terminal Railway, which owns the tracks.

"The bridge keeps telling everyone about their concept; Mr. Moroun should call me," said Brian McKeown. "They are wasting their time as far as I'm concerned."

A restrictive city bylaw -- finalized in June following an onslaught of OMB challenges -- forbids any non-railway use of railway property without city permission, he said.

ETR reached an agreement in the summer with the city that only senior government authorities can order the railway company to forfeit its west-end corridor.

"The city is in control of the rail lands unless there becomes an agenda out of the federal or provincial government to take over control of the (ETR) tracks," McKeown said.

"I have not heard from Queen's Park or Ottawa they want to do that. Until I hear something different, I consider this dead."

The bridge company has repeatedly the past four years touted plans to use ETR's west-end corridor for a four-kilometre "ring road" to funnel traffic on to the Ambassador Bridge.

They did so again in a Dec. 7 presentation to a Detroit-Windsor international business group -- the World Trade Centres Association -- when prominently featuring ETR tracks as it future access road.

Many of the dozens of homes backing on to the rail corridor on Bloomfield Road and Edison Street have also been purchased by the bridge company. The remainder are city public housing units.

Bridge company president Dan Stamper did not return a message left Thursday by The Star.

Since the proposal was unveiled, it has drawn heavy criticism from west-end residents and city leaders because of its impact on hundreds of nearby homes in the historic Sandwich community.

Mayor Eddie Francis said the city pursued the bylaw in the face of legal challenges from the railways, bridge company and the Detroit River Tunnel Partnership (DRTP) -- another private border consortium seeking to convert a South Windsor rail corridor for international truck traffic.

The mayor called it "one of the most important choices" council made when it initiated the fight to stop non-railway use of railway corridors because of the potential long-term implications for the city.

"It took a significant amount of time and our resources because we were being challenged by everybody," Francis said. "People were calling us up saying, 'Why are you doing this?' But had we not, there would be a much different story in our community already."

Private corporate interests or upper levels of government would have "carved our community apart" to solve their objectives by using rail corridors through the heart of Windsor to resolve the border traffic problems "with little consideration of the impact" on residents, Francis said.

"People would then say to us after the fact, 'Why didn't you do anything about it?' We are doing our best to try and protect the community on this. At the end of the day, we are the only ones who will still be here. Private interests or the government (officials) are not going to be here."

About six trains daily use that stretch of ETR tracks, each carrying about 25 cars, McKeown said.

© The Windsor Star 2006

fastcarsfreedom · #**446** Posted **Dec 22, 2006, 4:28 PM**

Wow...Blitz you really think it looks hideous?

I like the signage, it will raise the Casino's profile, especially when you consider the fact that as of right now it has no signage at all.

FALLSVIEW · #**447** Posted **Dec 22, 2006, 11:51 PM**

I love it, I think it looks awesome! Like it or not it's what a Casino with all of it's tackiness should look like. I have always been disappointed with the not to creative names of the Fallsview Casino, Casino Niagara and Casino Windsor, so Caesars up on the building looks a little more professional to me.

fastcarsfreedom · #**448** Posted **Dec 23, 2006, 2:52 AM**

Hey FALLSVIEW--depending how the Caesars branding works in Windsor, I could see the OLG showing a willingness to follow a similar path in N.F.--when Fallsview was originally planned, the hotel portion was supposed to get Hyatt branding, but that was squashed at some point prior to the opening--no idea why, assume maybe it was the OLG?...not sure. Either way, Falls Management Inc. could easily have a look at this and decide they want the Hyatt branding back on the building--branding lends some "cred" these days, and opens up other business and reservation channels.

In Quebec, when the old Casino d'Hull was renovated and became Casino Lac Leamy, the hotel portion was given full Hilton branding, looks great too.

FALLSVIEW · #**449** Posted **Dec 23, 2006, 5:14 AM**

I would go as far as saying it will put Caesars Windsor Casino on a whole new playing field...dare I say it, it will most definitely surpass Fallsview Casino for appeal and popularity. Therefore I agree with you about Falls Management Inc. which will watch closely to see how this new addition works out. I was just talking to a staff member at CH News, who was asking me why they never added the Hyatt to their building. I would assume because of the scale of the CASINO sign that runs along the side of the hotel it would be overkill.

How did the Caesars name come about for the Windsor Casino?

fastcarsfreedom · #**450** Posted **Dec 23, 2006, 6:55 AM**

FALLSVIEW--good question about the Caesars name coming here. Caesars World was one of the original three consortium operators of Casino Windsor when it opened in '94, the others being Circus Circus and Hilton Corp. The Circus Circus share went to Caesars World when CC decided to bid for a license in Detroit--giving Caesars 2/3 of the consortium. Through mergers and acquisitions Caesars became Park Place, switched names back to Caesars and then was acquired by Harrah's. Follow that? LOL.

Harrah's is the "operating partner" of Casino Windsor, Hilton's role is pretty much silent now--they sold off their gaming assets several years ago, so I assume the expertise goes to the operation of the hotel side of the business. Anyway, Harrah's intends Caesars to be their top-tier gaming brand, and somehow, someway, they convinced the OLG to agree to the name change. My guess is that with all the disadvantages Casino Windsor has faced in competition with Detroit (border, exchange rate, SARS, gas prices, 3 competitors in Detroit) the OLG decided to extend the operation in Windsor a hand up...especially with the Province forcing the smoking ban on Windsor and everyone else. It does change everything, really gives the property a leg up, not only with brand name recognition, but also with the rollout of the Harrah's-wide players club, which is called Total Rewards, replacing the current, Windsor-only players club.

I think branding at least the hotel at Fallsview with the Hyatt name only makes sense. That vertical C-A-S-I-N-O sign on Fallsview is ugly-assed anyway...ruins an otherwise good looking (but too small) hotel tower.

FALLSVIEW · #**451** Posted **Dec 23, 2006, 4:41 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by fastcarsfreedom

I think branding at least the hotel at Fallsview with the Hyatt name only makes sense. That vertical C-A-S-I-N-O sign on Fallsview is ugly-assed anyway...ruins an otherwise good looking (but too small) hotel tower.

Too small yes, especially considering the Hilton right across the street is adding a 52 story Hotel sometime in the near future. Ugly to me is that monstrosity across the river in NFNY, "Seneca Casino Hotel." I absolutely agree with you that brand name recognition is key in today's trivial society. I know Fallsview Casino needs to do something, because they are having the exact same problems as Windsor has gone through. The one thing that is always mentioned is how lame the B acts are that they get at the Casino, compared to Rama. I imagine with a 5000 seat venue Windsor may lure some of the great acts that pass through Detroit. Obviously with 5000 seats you won't get the best acts out there, but some good musicians do the Casino circuit.

fastcarsfreedom · #**452** Posted **Dec 23, 2006, 4:56 PM**

No question the Showroom at Fallsview was under-built, it is about 3000 or 4000 seats too small. Rama has been very successful, and Windsor just hired away their Entertainment Director to open the new showroom in Windsor.

Any insight as to why the Fallsview's hotel was built so small? Here in Windsor, when the original "permanent" site was planned, the city and the OCC worked out a deal that greatly limited the size of the hotel, restaurant and bar space, etc, as a way to placate exisiting hotel and restaurant operators downtown who feared CW would suck away all of their business. This hamstrung CW to a certain extent, and was untenable once the expanded facilities were annoucned for Detroit--hence the current renovation/expansion is partly about fixing these "errors" once and for all--doubling the hotel room count and significantly increasing the food and beverage facilities.

Also, I know there has been some controversy about Fallsview not building out any of their planned/promised outdoor attractions--was there not intended to be some outdoor amphitheater and/or something to tie in with Marineland called "River Country"?

With the hotel room count NF has, it amazes me someone hasnt built a really large convention facility or arena yet--you have hotel space that would allow NF to compete with much larger cities for major scale conventions and special sporting events.

upinottawa · #**453** Posted **Jan 2, 2007, 2:38 PM**

Tunnels elsewhere not prohibitive
European, Asian, Aussie examples of infrastructure abound

Dave Battagello, Windsor Star
Published: Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Choked for years with traffic and pollution problems from 6,000 large freight trucks per day travelling back and forth to the city's bustling port, Dublin recently opened the longest city road tunnel in Europe.

The 4.5-kilometre tunnel will carry mostly trucks from the port and under the city to the M50 roadway. The trip used to take vehicles more than half an hour to travel the short distance because of countless traffic lights and gridlock, but will now take just six minutes to complete in the tunnel.

"Today, as we face into the 21st century, we are building 21st-century infrastructure -- and world class infrastructure at that -- in our own country, for our own people, with our own resources," said Irish Prime Minster Bertie Ahern.

Windsor's residents affected by thousands of border-crossing big rigs driving back and forth from the Ambassador Bridge have been demanding the same type of 21st-century solution -- many demanding a tunnel under this city to bury traffic.

$300M PER KILOMETRE

The binational Detroit River International Crossing (DRIC) team assigned to fix Windsor's border traffic troubles originally projected tunnel costs in Windsor ranging from $100 million to $300 million per kilometre.

But that figure ballooned this month to more than $600 million, according to data DRIC released this month.

DRIC has blamed it on the city's poor soil conditions and high water table. Those costs are comparable to the Chunnel -- the world's most expensive tunnel at C$690 million per kilometre.

DRIC has also claimed a tunnel here will do little to reduce diesel pollutants from trucks, so it can be easy to dismiss a tunnel locally (up to six kilometres in length) to handle border traffic.

But taking a quick look at what's happening elsewhere in Europe, Asia or Australia despite soil or dense urban conditions -- and often for relatively low costs -- the question again becomes why not here?

More than 5,000 people were involved in the Dublin construction effort which began in June 2001 with the official opening Dec. 20. The final project cost was C$1.15 billion, including land acquisition and design.

Heavy trucks in Dublin will use the tunnel for free, while cars and light commercial vehicles will be charged a toll. About 420 cameras will be used for safety.

Elsewhere, recent costs for tunnels have ranged from $10 million per kilometre for Norway's 24.5-kilometre Laerdal Tunnel up to the what's widely recognized as the world's most difficult construction project, the Channel Tunnel (Chunnel) linking Great Britain and France.

1,000 VEHICLES PER DAY

The Laerdal cuts through a mountain in Norway and opened in 2000. It handles only about 1,000 cars and trucks per day between Oslo and Norway's second largest city, the western port of Bergen.

The relatively new 19-kilometre Vereina Tunnel is among several railway and road tunnels in Switzerland. Opened in 1999, it cost $24 million per kilometre to build.

The Brenner Base Rail Tunnel project is listed as the top priority project of the European transport network. It will consist of a 56-kilometre twin-tube tunnel between Austria and Italy with a scheduled opening of 2009. The total cost is estimated at C$6.87 billion.

The longest underground road tunnel in Asia and fifth longest in the world opened this June in Taiwan.

The Hsuehshan (or Snow Mountain) tunnel is nearly 13 kilometres long. The tunnel cost nearly $2 billion, connecting the capital, Taipei to the county of Ilan and will cut travel time from more than two hours to 30 minutes.

There are several large city tunnels in the U.S., the largest being the 4.2-kilometre Ted Williams tunnel in Boston, part of its massive $14.6 billion Big Dig project -- the largest public works construction project in U.S. history.

Not far away is Virginia's 28-kilometre Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel, whose southbound route opened in 1999 after four years of construction at a cost of $250 million. No tax dollars were used with funding raised through sale of revenue bonds for the world's largest bridge-tunnel complex.

© The Windsor Star 2007

Happy Habib · #**454** Posted **Jan 3, 2007, 6:46 PM**

this link will give an artist rendering of the new transit terminal - construction is moving rapidly on it!

http://www.citywindsor.ca/DisplayAtt...?AttachID=6442

Blitz · #**455** Posted **Jan 4, 2007, 3:54 AM**

^ That's a good little magazine...it comes out quarterly and is delivered to all city residents. Some nice renderings and info in there.

FALLSVIEW · #**456** Posted **Jan 4, 2007, 2:07 PM**

Wow that is an awesome little magazine, with some great images. The new transit terminal is exactly what the downtown needs. Windsor is really kicking it into high gear with some much needed projects under way.

Quote:

With the hotel room count NF has, it amazes me someone hasnt built a really large convention facility or arena yet--you have hotel space that would allow NF to compete with much larger cities for major scale conventions and special sporting events.

Sorry I know this is for Windsor developments but to awnser an earlier post... A new 3000 seat arena is in the planning stages and is set for construction beginning this Spring, the prospect of JDS bringing back the OHL in a new 5700 seat arena is over! A new Convention Centre is finally being discussed for NF, they are looking to secure funding which would be split with about one-third coming from the federal government, one-third from the province and one-third from private sector stakeholders.

Here is a link to the newspaper article: NFD&P

upinottawa · #**457** Posted **Jan 7, 2007, 8:22 PM**

Interesting magazine.

Has there been any discussion with respect to remodelling the Windsor airport? London, Ontario renovatated its terminal a few years back and it looks much better than it did before. Currently, the Windsor terminal looks dated and cramped.

Also, in a few years Detroit will have a completely new and modern airport (once the new North Terminal is complete). It would make sense for Windsor to keep up with its neighbours.

y2k_pony · #**458** Posted **Jan 8, 2007, 8:46 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by upinottawa

Interesting magazine.

Has there been any discussion with respect to remodelling the Windsor airport? London, Ontario renovatated its terminal a few years back and it looks much better than it did before. Currently, the Windsor terminal looks dated and cramped.

Also, in a few years Detroit will have a completely new and modern airport (once the new North Terminal is complete). It would make sense for Windsor to keep up with its neighbours.

There will be no remodelling of the Airport anytime soon. They did just resurface the driveway leading to the main terminal and there was some interior dress-up for the Superbowl last year but thats about it. They also expanded the runway a few years ago from 7900ft to 9000ft. Nothing else is planned at this point that I know of.

upinottawa · #**459** Posted **Jan 9, 2007, 10:48 PM**

^ That's too bad. Like it or not the airport is a major gateway into Windsor and first impressions mean a lot. As is, the airport serves its purpose but it could use a facelift.

That being said, I flew out of Detroit's main terminal two weeks ago (heading down to Florida) and I was very impressed. I loved the tram. Now only if there was rail service from downtown Detroit to the DTW....

upinottawa · #**460** Posted **Jan 12, 2007, 2:56 PM**

Come on, sisters....

Heritage status of convent disputed

Roseann Danese, Windsor Star
Published: Friday, January 12, 2007

The Sisters of St. Joseph religious order is considering applying for a judicial review of city council's decision to designate its Riverside Drive property a heritage site.

The order is disputing the city's findings that Holy Rosary Convent, at 3975 Riverside Dr. E., fulfils the criteria of a heritage building or has historical value.

Norm Pazzali, a London lawyer representing the sisters, said the order is looking forward to presenting its case to the provincial Conservation Review Board, which will listen to the merits of heritage designation and make a recommendation to city council.

Meanwhile, the sisters have notified the city that "we are considering an application for judicial review of council's decision on this particular issue," Pazzali said.

He said the building has been significantly altered and would require $1.5 million to bring it up to acceptable standards. "There's no way you're going to get any buyer who's going to put that kind of money into it," and still pay the sisters the full value of the property.

NUNS STAND 'TO LOSE SIGNIFICANTLY'

Pazzali said the nuns have served the Windsor community for more than 100 years and "now they're going to lose significantly" on the sale of the property. Council's move could cause the nuns to lose the highest bid. The Mady development company had been interested in the property to build a nine-storey highrise seniors' building.

Council supported a bid by the Windsor Heritage Committee to save the former Frank H. Joyce house that was built in 1915 for the Windsor industrialist. In 1953, it was converted to a convent for the sisters.

Nancy Morand, the city's heritage planner, said she is confident the building meets the criteria under the heritage Act. "I'd be really surprised if the heritage conservation review board" didn't agree with city council, she said.

She said it is one of our last remaining estate houses along Riverside Drive, which was once known as millionaire's Row.

"There's very few of them left," Morand said. "It's a beautiful building, but it also has historical importance."

© The Windsor Star 2007