Lock City Resort

[CANVIK]

The Gateway site is never going to be developed by a private developer, histroy has proven this to date. Nor do I think the City should foot the bill to try to find something to put there. They had their best idea to date and decieded to build the indoor soccer facility in the west end.

It is time for our EDC to put some pressure on the OLG, right across the street from them, into taking on the Gateway site and develop a Resort and Permanent Casino on the site. It does not have to be huge like Windsor or Niagara, but rather a rustic resort with conference and entertainment facilities attached. The design could highlight the natural characteristics of the area. One only has to look as far as Kewadin, Bay Mills, or St. Ignace to see the sucess of having a casino with attached ammenities so people can stay and play and not worry about travel or drinking too much. If they want a theme, how about Famous Canadians, people, inventions etc. Then this would leave the old casino, as originally planned, to be used as a large scale conference and exposition centre which could also be attached to the new casino site and train station.

Not rocket science, we need public money to develop something on the site. Bring more people in to stay with conferences or events on site and they will spend money at the casino and maybe even take a train ride or go skiing or golfing. Win / Win for the community. Make the Soo the place to go to be entertained in the North.

[IMHO]

Great idea...the so called TEMP casino is a eyesore. I would also be in favour of lower cost conos on that site. Builders in this city feel we can afford 250 grand condos.I might add...builders in this city have no imagination when it comes to house plans. When is the last time you have seen something that looks really different.

[NewCasa]

It's a good idea and building a permanent casino was the original plan. The problem is that the Canadian casino can't compete against the American ones. Even the Canadians head to Kewadin by preference so our casino doesn't make nearly the money they'd set as the amount required to make the casino a permanent thing. The Sault casino is very close to the bottom of the OLG list of money making casinos, unfortunately so I wouldn't count on them doing anything anytime soon.

[CANVIK]

No Casa, you are dead on the money!!!! Our casino is a very poor performer. We will never have a casino like the other comercial OLG casinos and shouldn't ask for one. That will get us nowhere, but a rual comercial casino similar to those located in Michigan's UP would help bring in some out of town guests to our casino rather than just pull bills from the locals pockets. With some real convention space, maybe a performance venue, and utilizing the old casino building as an attached expo space with on site attached accomodations such as a Lodge type setting the Sault could do alot better in making things work to it's advantage. Never going to be a wonder of the world tourist attraction but could be a starting point with good management from a comercial operation to sell the other things the Sault has to offer as well. Spent some time at MGM Foxwoods last year. In the middle of nowhere, at least an hour from the closest city you have the largest resort casino in North America. Of course, I was there for a covention and dropped more than a few too many bills. EDC has done the math on how many people could travel here, just need a reason to.

Our casino is already successful, it makes good money as the city gets a good chunk of change from profits from only the slots. Just need to build on that.

[NewCasa]

If part of what you're saying here is that you believe EDC has been aiming way too high, I can't help but agree. Right now we've got a vacant piece of land. We can only go up from there right?

[CANVIK]

Aiming way to high!!! Add a focus of meetings and conventions to what our casino already is. Look at Deerhurst Resort as an example. Minus the timeshares and cottages built, the main lodge has a couple hundred rooms, huge amounts of meeting space and now their hosting the G8. A few people will be there. Nothing larger than what our city already has for accomodations just properley designed and run.

[bohd]

when are we going to get a "full time" casino?
was in orillia last month.....casin rama is very nice....for a smaller city than the soo

[NewCasa]

Aiming way to high!!! Add a focus of meetings and conventions to what our casino already is. Look at Deerhurst Resort as an example. Minus the timeshares and cottages built, the main lodge has a couple hundred rooms, huge amounts of meeting space and now their hosting the G8. A few people will be there. Nothing larger than what our city already has for accomodations just properley designed and run.

I hear ya. I think that's a very good plan.

BOHD - RAMA is very nice, you're right. I've been there. It's that nice because it's the only game in town. They're not adjacent to the American border like we are. Like I said - Kewadin kills our casino and there's not much OLG can do about it. Honestly, we're lucky it's still open.

[dancingqueen]

I blame the liquor laws....

[NewCasa]

I partly blame the smoking bylaw.

[NewCasa]

They need to build a new casino of the biggest logs they can find and make it rustic throughout with huge entrance doors, including deer and moose mounts, fish, and various critters, a huge aquarium in the center with some trout, sturgeon, walleye, memorabilia from the north and oodles of pictures old and new adorning the walls.
And of course a barbecue pit indoors and out that has icy cold beer at all times!, to top it off a free local shuttle service so they don't have to count the beer you drink while you are making them rich!

And a log flume water ride - don't forget that!!

[dancingqueen]

and instead of a normal shuttle service, a dog sled!

[CANVIK]

Ne Touchez Paz has the right idea, work the whole "CAMP" thing into a name as well!!!

[NewCasa]

I can just see it now: 'Hey! Check out the dogsled! Who the heck is that puking over the side of the sled?? Wow! It's DQ after a hard night of drinking and gambling at the new casino! You go DQ!'

[dancingqueen]

they'd have to!

[verotik66]

when are we going to get a "full time" casino?
was in orillia last month.....casin rama is very nice....for a smaller city than the soo

toronto to Orillia, toronto to sault ste marie, which casino are you going to go to from downtown toronto?

[GRUMPY]

it is all about the south always has and always will.

[gizmoguy]

Our casino is already successful, it makes good money as the city gets a good chunk of change from profits from only the slots. Just need to build on that.

Don't confuse profit with revenues. The "chunk of change" that you are referring to is an agreed upon percentage of slot revenues, not a percentage of profits. The Casino could be operating in the red and there would still be a percentace of slot revenues that would be payable to the City.

[CANVIK]

No doubt the Sault will never be among the tops for casino revenue in Ontario but going on the quarterly average pay out to the city of 5% Gross slot revenue, we are bringing in $32 Million a year in slot revenue alone plus all the table games on top of that. When compared to many US casino's these figures are respectable and could easily attract a Commercial Operator if allowed by the OLG and with that the other support ammenities.

[BAILEYDOG]

our Casino is a Charity Casino and not a commercial one like Rama, Windsor or Niagra so u will never see a commercial operator. The casino makes between 7-10 million per year in profits and supports over 300 people with good paying jobs, (myself included). We are one of the smaller ones in terms of revenues because of our location, competition and small market. When it was build it did have the outdoors theme but the OLG has gone to considerable expence to now make every Casino in the province look very similar to each other. They believe that is what people want and is cheaper in the long run for them as they can order huge lots of material for the casinos (carpeting, slot bases, chairs) insteed of negotiating small contracts. I wish also that we could do something bigger but it is not reasonable to spend 100 million on a facility that even expanded might make 20 million a year. They are concentrating on our big facilities like Woodbine that makes 2 million dollars in profit a day. Oh ya and the table games operate at a loss not a profit.