Gilbert's Casino Design Unveiled

[BuckeyeNation]

http://blog.cleveland.com/architectu...lly_alter.html

"Horseshoe Casino"

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The exteriors of the historic Higbee building downtown, a beloved fixture on Public Square since 1931, won’t be drastically altered by putting a casino in the basement and on the first three floors of the building.

Renderings made public today by Rock Ventures LLC, which has partnered with Caesars Horseshoe to open the facility by "early 2012" show that the company plans to treat the building with a light hand.

Exterior signs will be understated, not garish or vulgar. New lighting will be installed to highlight the structure’s Beaux Arts style. Translucent screens will be installed behind windows on the first and second floors to obscure slot machines and gaming tables inside, while allowing passersby to get a sense of motion and activity.

“We will not be affecting the historic character of the building,” Nate Forbes, a principal of Rock Gaming, said in an interview before a press conference scheduled for 11 a.m. today.

My question... I thought Dan was going to build a completely new building for the casino? Something modern or more visually appealing. Or was the plan to always renovate this building?

[OhioSlayer]

I always heard and thought that he was doing a new build. Guess not.

[CPK]

Honestly I am more of a fan of using whatever we can... god knows we have enough vacant buildings. Even if this one wasn't exactly vacant... still... we need to fill up what we have.

[ZooCrewDude]

My question... I thought Dan was going to build a completely new building for the casino? Something modern or more visually appealing. Or was the plan to always renovate this building?

They are still building a completely new casino as a Phase 2 project. It will be a $600 million undertaking. They're pushing for this Phase 1 in Higbees after it became clear the land aquisition for the new casino would take longer than expected. Phase 2 is definately moving forward. The land has been purchased and some pretty impressive renderings are out. See the article below for the land aquisition article. See the second link for the impressive rendering video.

http://www.cleveland.com/business/in...million_1.html

http://videos.cleveland.com/plain-de...nd_casino.html

[Triumph36]

Horseshoe sucks.

[BuckeyeNation]

wow that video is impressive! I just hope the casino is top notch and done right. So many things in Cleveland have been rushed and not done well.

Soooo, the phase 1 thing is just a temporary casino until the new big one is done?

[chrisrich91]

I wanted it to be called Burning River Casino.

Still, hopefully it works out well in Phase 1 and the transition into Phase 2 goes smoothly. Need something like this to shake up Cleveland.

[Gunther]

wow that video is impressive! I just hope the casino is top notch and done right. So many things in Cleveland have been rushed and not done well.

Soooo, the phase 1 thing is just a temporary casino until the new big one is done?

That's the current plan, although there are rumblings that if the first one remains successful, they'll try to keep both open. However, I think that would require a change in the statewide referendum language, so that would be another issue in the future, which, if I'm not mistaken, would take another statewide vote to make happen. If you read the articles on Crain's Business, they explain in more detail.

[Triumph36]

That's the current plan, although there are rumblings that if the first one remains successful, they'll try to keep both open. However, I think that would require a change in the statewide referendum language, so that would be another issue in the future, which, if I'm not mistaken, would take another statewide vote to make happen. If you read the articles on Crain's Business, they explain in more detail.

underground tunnel IMO

[Gunther]

underground tunnel IMO

Subway?







Great article on Cleveland's subway history here if anyone is interested.

[Pyro]

The people who think that this is going to be the only part of the casino are either idiots, or have horrible memories.

[OhioSlayer]

The people who think that this is going to be the only part of the casino are either idiots, or have horrible memories.

Captain Obvious

[Pyro]

So you agree that you are an idiot? Glad we got that out of the way.

[Silky Smooth]

Downtown is so dull. With just our sports teams there is nothing else to do downtown and the amount of vacant buildings just rotting not being used is amazing.

[Scuzzy]

Hopefully it is open 24/7, I really want to get a side job bartending there