It’s been a while so today we check in again, down at the Casino Expansion site.
The tower is rapidly rising again now that the labour strike has ended. You can see how the old and new sections are tying in together over McDougall Ave., which incidentally will be permanently closed from Chatham to Pitt.
The RenCen in Detroit looms over the project as it is viewed from City Hall Square.
Another view from McDougall looking north.
I recently walked through the Casino to check out the changes, and wowser! I’m not really a Casino kind of guy, but having not been in a long time, once inside it looked like a whole new place! The inside changes are really something. They now have a great band setup in the old Rotunda area, very impressive.
It is coming along nicely but I have to wonder about the $400 million price tag. With the smoking ban and passport regulation due in 2009 I think there will be another declinein attendance at the Casino.
On a side note, I find it interesting that the city closes streets arbitrarily (Dougall between Chatham and Pitt) but to get an easement is takes time and time and time and money and money. How convenient?
What’s really sad about this site is how long it is taking. If this were Toronto or New York, it would be done in one to two months. In China, it would be built in weeks. This is not that big a building compared to metropolitan cities. When the government puts up the money and doesn’t give a crap about interest and carrying costs, it takes forever. I’ve seen how fast some of these condo highrises in Toronto are being built. On the portion that’s completed, a private developer would be paying at least 10% interest with mezainne financing. That is a lot of interest payments to be accumulating. And, it’s the taxpayers who are paying that for those carrying costs and it’s gonna be another government project way over budget again. What is with this city??
With the rumors of the Apartment building on Riverside Drive being demolished to accomodate the sightlines of the hotel, this picture is an interesting view. Notice the Apartment building still shown, but very, very transparent.
http://www.harrahs.com/casinos/casino-windsor/casino-misc/caesars-canada-detail.html
What is with this city? Unions and an “entitlement” mentality because of it.
I understand this strike was province-wide but anything that needs to be built in this city takes forever. It takes forever to come to a conclusion just to build it and then it takes forever to get the thing built.
As far as I understand the apartment on Riverside isn’t going anywhere andytime soon.
It makes me sad sometimes to be a Canadian living in Windsor. Whatever happened to volunteerism and the idea of making the world a better place in this city?? Whatever happened to the idea of doing things for the greater good?? What ever happened to JFK’s words, “Ask not what the country can do for me, but what you can do for the country?” Granted, it was a US President who said that. But, why can’t we have that kind of mentality of doing things for the greater good in this city??
Isn’t it bad enough that the unions in this city have to have this what’s in it for mentality so destructively that we have the highest unemployment rate in the country and scare off all the entrepreneurs who once believed in this city. Who’s gonna want to build another commercial building in Windsor after seeing it only get this far after a year a half?? It’s gonna be another year before it gets done. How about the unions set by example and show what they can really do by getting things done faster to encourage other investors to invest in construction projects in this city instead of thinking about what’s in it for me and I need another $10 an hour salary increase so I can booze it off.
Then, we have greedy lawyers thinking about their pots of gold trying to cash in on public goods with useless litigation over things like the Capital, destroying the community and the feeling of doing things for the greater good.
It’s all about what’s in it for me in this city.. How about unions think about the greater good for once and stop being so damn fu-cken selfish and start giving back to the public good to make this city great.
I’m not a huge union fan, and always ready to jump on the union slamming bandwagon when it’s called for, but I gotta call b.s. on this account. Have you seen what the CAW membership has given to the United Way alone (nevermind their other charitable endeavors such as Habitat). The Windsor locals alone break records every year. The big unions are far from perfect, but when it comes to charity they do dig deep. Whether it’s altruism or just the unions trying to look good in the public eye is another matter, but they do give generously either way. Can’t take that away from them.
OK, so the union takes membership dues and gives it to the United Way and this somehow magically makes them good in the public eye when we have the highest unemployment rate in Canada?? Fact: GM and Ford are packing their bags and whatever’s left of their operations in Windsor because they are fed up with unions in Windsor. Fact: a lot of auxillary union manufacturers like Hallmark have folded. Non-union Toyota has already claimed #1 in World auto sales. They build them in Canada, but I doubt Toyota would ever consider building an assembly plant in Windsor because of this cities reputation.
Are you saying that people who work in non-union factories like Toyota don’t give to charities? Nonsense. A lot of non-union companies and employees give to the United Way and a whole lot of other charities and will continue to do so whether the CAW exists or not. Not to mention that fact that the government is already funding a lot of the social programs like welfare and healthcare to a much higher level than the United States.
If you choose to keep ignoring the facts, it’s your choice. But, accepting the status quo will never change the problems this city is facing. I would like you to explain to me how we could lower Windsor’s unemployment rate by accepting the status quo. Somebody’s to blame for this unemployment rate. Cambridge Ontario with their Toyota Assembly plant has one of the lowest unemployment rates in Canada. Other cities are booming. Yet, you feel the blame for Windsor’s woes lies with BIg 3s management? If the CAW were generous to this City, it wouldn’t be scaring off Ford and GM other companies from Windsor. What about Lewenza shutting down Chrysler for a day several months ago for concessions? That really paints the CAW in a positive light, considering our unemployment rate.
I think you think you’ve somehow painted the CAW in a positive light with your rhetoric. Give me a break!
Please don’t hesitate to put words in my mouth or to draw conclusions on my behalf that were never made. I worked in a non-unionized position in a union environment with CAW members all around for ten years. I saw some things that disgusted me, people getting away with shit they shouldn’t be because of the power of the CAW. Even that was sometimes a matter of the union acting in fear of being charged for Failure to Represent. But then I also saw their generosity, both monetary and with their time. We’re not talking a few bucks off their pay – we’re talking about almost a million dollars to United Way from the CAW, events like the Easter Seal walkathon, participation in Habitat for Humanity, just to name a few. You call that rhetoric? No, those are facts. What you have offered is your opinion – which you are entitled to – but no facts or logic to back it up. That is what I call “rhetoric”. For example, you blame the unions for the woes of the Big Three. While the CAW shoulders part of the blame, so does management, engineering, marketing, the dealer network, and even consumer buying habits alone that are not always controllable. You also need to take into consideration also that Toyota doesn’t have a buttload of retiree pensions to pay. In 20-30 years, things will change for them and their overhead on pensions will be more on an open playing field with the Big Three. Life isn’t always black and white, and neither is the effects, some good and some bad, that unionism brings to the workplace.
I doubt that Toyota will ever have it as bad as the Big Three. The pension is only part of the equation. A recent Canadian Chamber of Commerce study found that unions add 30% to the cost of labour for manufacturers because they have to hire additional staff like shop foremans and deal with more red tape and entitlements . So, if a non-union plant such as Toyota is paying $30 an hour and Chrysler is paying $30 an hour, Chrysler is really paying $39 an hour. How can Chrysler of the Big 3 for that matter compete?? Then, you have all the red tape and entitlements. How can the Big Three compete against that?? Unless they move all their manufacturing operations to Mexico and China, they can’t. And, then that brings up the question, why would I want to buy a foreign car when I can buy a car made here in Canada like Toyota. Oddly enough, I drive a Chevy Cavalier made by GM. Later, I found out from the serial number that it was made in Mexico. Had I known it was made in Mexico and not Canada, I would have bought Toyota.
Typical Windsorites on this page. Whine, bitch, complain, cry, etc. Always quick to find blame in everything. Some idiot says that they could build the expansion in two months if this were Toronto or two weeks if this were China. What a load of crap. Typical morons who always bitch yet they have nothing to suggest to improve. The “union” donating the workers pay to the United Way. Moron! The members themselves gave money, not the “union”. Comments about the non-union Toyota….well moron, tell that to the Toyota workers in Japan who are members of a Japanese auto union. Perhaps if the Big 3 were to design and engineer smaller more fuel efficient cars people would be flocking to them now. Look at the new Ford Taurus. For finally figured it out, they redesigned the 500, new engine, hundreds of engineering improvements and suddenly that sucker is getting 40 mpg on the highway and greatly improved mileage in the city. Blame all that on the union. Perhaps if all of us in North America would quite driving trucks, SUVs and cars with V8 engines… D’uh. I work in a small union shop and four of my coworkers drive BMWs. Two of the drivers are multi-millionaires whose got that way because of the good times in Windsor. How do they pay back everybody else? Buying German built autos. Smart move. Your fellow morons. Tell us again how the CAW is at fault with everything? I love all those great Windsorites lining up at the local BMW, Toyota, Nissan and Mercedes dealers. I can’t wait for Chrysler to split from Daimler. Then all the executives and non-union management at Chrysler will have to give up their leases on the Mercedes which they jumped at when Chrysler was bought out. Like the stickers say….Keep buying foreign!!
Let’s get back to the Casino expansion people. For those complaining about how long it has taken to build, take a look across the border. Two of the new Casinos started long before Windsor’s expansion started. Stop complaining. The expansion of Casino Windsor is long overdue and very complex. People see another hotel going up. Much more to it than that. A hundred thousand sq.ft. of convention space and a five thousand seat auditorium included in the project. Major refit of the existing structure and a complete refreshing of the current gaming floor. Major, MAJOR changes that take time.
What should have happened was the city tearing down the Windsor Housing Authority apartment building on Riverside Drive. Move that structure elsewhere and expand Casino Windsor onto that site. Great sight lines from Detroit and a furthering of a major facility that any city in North America would want instead of sticking it in behind an old apartment building.
And don’t think for one second that people won’t come back to Casino Windsor. Start bringing in major names to the new auditorium and major events to the convention space and people will be back! Michigan is a year or two away from going smoke free so that upper hand that they have will be gone. Fortunately for Casino Windsor, Detroit screwed up and let their three Casinos be built throughout the core of the city rather than in a new casino district which former mayor Archer wanted. Stupid mistake but that’s good for us. Better for us would be a second Casino right next to Casino Windsor. Tear down those old rooming houses and other just to the east of Casino Windsor and put up a new facility. Go to Vegas. People like to wander between Casinos. Another one, even though I believe it would have to be run by Caeser’s given whatever agreement the province singed years ago, a new Bally’s branded Casino would go nuts. The dynamic would be excellent.
The only thing holding back the American’s will be the stupidity of the Grocery Police, wait, I mean the Customs Officers at the border.