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Columbus
Dispatch...
Ohio’s 1st casino
shaping up
CLEVELAND — A former Cleveland department store that once had a
starring Hollywood role showed off some new glitz last week as backers
of Ohio’s first casino promised the restored art deco surroundings
would be ready for a grand opening before Memorial Day weekend.
Principal Jeff Cohen of Rock Gaming LLC, a partner with Caesars
Entertainment Inc. in the $350 million joint-venture casino
development, said the Horseshoe Cleveland casino will be ready for
opening day in the week of May 14.
“When you’ve got 600 (construction) people a day in here, it’s truly
amazing how this place progresses each and every day,” Cohen said
during a media tour.
As he talked, crews worked above escalators that will take bettors to a
basement buffet that will seat 400. The street-level gambling floor was
lined with knee-high bases awaiting slot machines.
Dealers-in-training are getting excited about being part of history,
said Marcus Glover, general manager of the casino.
“If it were up to them, they’d be in this place right now,” Glover said.
The casino will tap into high-end outside restaurants rather than
compete with them, Glover said. He wouldn’t offer specifics when asked
about “comps,” or freebies offered to loyal customers, but said that
would be part of the casino’s business plan.
“All of our fine dining will be done with partners around the local
community,” he said, adding that a deliberate decision was made not to
open a high-priced steakhouse in the casino in favor of partnerships.
“We felt there was ample quality supply (of fine dining) in the market,
and we did not want to cannibalize that existing supply,” he said.
The casino will open in the former Higbee department store in the heart
of the city. The Higbee building and its holiday-decorated windows had
a starring role in the 1983 film A Christmas Story.
Penn National Gaming plans to open a casino in Toledo two weeks later
and to have another casino in Columbus. Rock Ohio Caesars also is to
open a casino in Cincinnati.
Ohio voters approved plans for all four casinos. Led by church groups,
opponents fought the vote, saying that gambling hits the poor the
hardest.
A second casino phase with a new building to be constructed nearby will
begin later.
The street level of the first phase will have 700 slot machines, 30
table games and a bar in the middle of the action.
The second floor of the Higbee building will have 1,400 slots, 34 table
games and a food court with three outlets, including a specialty burger
restaurant and a deli. The top floor will have a VIP lounge and
specialty gaming tables.
“We are ready to take delivery of slots,” Cohen said, and that will
begin under tight security this week.
The original plan called for opening the casino next month, but that
was delayed by the pace of background checks on casino employees. The
casino will employ 1,600 people.
“We essentially were ready to open up March 26, so this extra time that
we’ve got is really a bonus,” Cohen said.
Cohen said a casino parking deck, which suffered a partial collapse
without injuries in December, would be ready for the casino opening.
Read this and other articles at the Columbus Dispatch
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