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  #41  
Old Posted Mar 20, 2006, 8:11 PM
arnold arnold is offline
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here's an article from today's windsor star that has some interesting stats from casino windsor. i'd be interested in hearing what some of the windsor forumers think of the "waste of cash" comment...


Casino project called waste of cash
Expansion like flying squirrel sex study: Tory

Trevor Wilhelm
Windsor Star


Monday, March 20, 2006


According to the provincial Conservative party, spending money to build a hotel at Casino Windsor is like spending money to research flying squirrels having sex -- they're both a waste of taxpayers' dollars.

That was a comparison Conservative Opposition Leader John Tory made Sunday in a statement slamming the Liberal government for "recklessly" spending $400 million on expanding the permanent Casino Windsor -- which was built under a previous Conservative regime.

Four days before the Liberals unveil their new budget, Tory compared the Liberal government's spending on the casino expansion to the $150,000 it gave Laurentian University in 2005 to research the sex lives of flying squirrels.

Tory's spokesman Brendan Howe added in an interview with The Windsor Star that the government has no business in the hotel business.

"This is a symptom of a much bigger problem with the McGuinty Liberals," Tory said in the statement.

"They have no respect for taxpayers' money. While Ontarians struggle to get by, Dalton McGuinty is spending hundreds of millions of dollars of their money recklessly."

Howe said the previous Conservative government's building of casinos across Ontario isn't the same as the Liberals spending money to build a hotel at Casino Windsor.

"You're comparing apples to oranges," he said. "We're talking about $400 million today to build a hotel. We've repeatedly questioned why the government should be building casino hotels. If it's a good thing to do, why won't the private sector fund it? We cannot justify spending $400 million on a swanky casino hotel ... When is the government going to have some priorities?"

Casino spokeswoman Holly Ward, who couldn't be reached for comment Sunday, has said the expansion will create 300 jobs. It is also considered crucial if Windsor is going to continue to compete in an ever-growing market on both sides of the border.

Casino Windsor's revenue did drop in 2005, but still earned the province hundreds of millions of dollars. In fact, gambling across Ontario produces $13 billion annually for the province.

At the end of 2005, Casino Windsor was the region's fourth-largest employer with 4,100 employees.

In its 12-year history the casino, which is run for the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation by a private operator, has given jobs to more than 10,000 area residents. In addition to salaries and benefits it pays out, the casino also pays $12.6 million in municipal property taxes.

"The casino makes revenue for the province," Howe said. "But to automatically write a $400-million cheque without looking into this is pretty irresponsible and reckless for our government to do this."

Howe added it's premature to look at whether the hotel expansion will create jobs or increase revenues as part of the casino.

"I don't think we can answer that question until we answer the question of if someone in the private sector can build the hotel," Howe said.

He added Windsorites would be upset if the government spent the money to build a hotel elsewhere.

"If the government spent $400 million on a conference centre in Toronto or Peterborough, people would be questioning it," he said. "People in Windsor would want to know why the government was spending $400 million on a hotel in Toronto."

The casino's 22-storey expansion, which should be finished by the end of 2007, will include a 400-room hotel, 100,000-square-foot convention centre and 5,000-seat auditorium.

Howe said the government should spend the money on other needs like the health care system instead of sinking it into a hotel.

Tory also said in his statement the Liberals wasted money by spending $91 million to fire nurses then rehire them at other hospitals, and by putting $179 million into Local Health Integration Networks.
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  #42  
Old Posted Mar 21, 2006, 12:24 AM
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This is the second time that jackass Tory has spouted off about it. The only reason he does is because he knows his party doesn't have a chance in hell of being elected here. How many times has Windsor been neglected and/or screwed over by the provincial government? Then when we finally get some attention from them, he throws a hissy fit. Screw him.
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  #43  
Old Posted Mar 21, 2006, 2:47 PM
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I figured Gord would have something to say about this. Here's his column today in classic Gord fashion....


Tory firing cheap shots

By Gord Henderson
The Windsor Star
Mar. 21, 2006


By all accounts, Ontario Progressive Conservative leader John Tory is a nice guy and a sensible, middleof-the-road politician.
So it’s more than a little disappointing to see Tory, a guy who promised civilized discourse when he became opposition leader, wallow in the sleaziest kind of partisan warfare in repeatedly slamming the $400-million Casino Windsor expansion.
Worse, he embarrassed himself Sunday with his nutty — make that downright squirrely — comparison between government funding for sex research on flying squirrels and a provincial investment in Casino Windsor that includes a convention centre, a hotel and a 5,000-seat theatre.
His handlers obviously see Windsor as the ideal whipping boy. After all, this city hasn’t elected a provincial Conservative in decades and the recent federal election confirmed it remains a Tory wasteland, so there’s no downside in cheap shots.
Better yet, Windsor boasts two senior ministers, including Finance Minister Dwight Duncan. Where better to sock it to a Liberal finance minister who’s preparing to deliver a budget than on his home turf where he can be spanked for shameless pork-barrelling.
So the temptation is obvious. But I expected better from this former CFL chairman, wealthy lawyer and respected business executive who landed the Conservative leadership as a consolation prize in 2004 after finishing second to David Miller in the 2003 Toronto mayoral race.
After all, this straight arrow told reporters following a byelection win in Orangeville a year ago, where he replaced former premier Ernie Eves, that he wanted to “restore people’s faith in the political process by setting a positive example.” In an earlier exchange, he said Ontario is “not looking for leadership that chooses to divide people for political gain.”
Dividing people
Surely his idea of setting a positive example and not dividing people didn’t include shamelessly deceiving Ontario residents by spouting hypocritical and inflammatory nonsense.
As a businessman, Tory surely understands that in a competitive environment a business which fails to reinvent itself is doomed. Without this $400-million investment, Casino Windsor would fall further behind its three Detroit rivals and the government’s billion-dollar stake in it would be compromised, along with several thousand jobs and the hundreds of millions of primarily U.S. dollars that have been dispatched up the 401 to pay for health care and other needs.
The future of a key Windsor industry and its vulnerable employees — both of which will take a huge hit when smoking is banned at the end of May — is at stake and Tory has the gall to compare it with boinking rodents? Talk about inappropriate.
A Tory mouthpiece told The Star that the government should spend its money on health needs rather than a hotel. “We cannot justify spending $400 million on a swanky casino hotel . . . when is the government going to have some priorities?” demanded Brendan Howe.
Swanky hotel? What rubbish. Tory and his tiny Tory terriers can’t be so thick as not to see that this is about building convention/entertainment facilities that will restore our casino’s allure and make it once again a great revenue producer for the province.
Other Ontario cities, including Toronto and Ottawa, have received or are in line for huge sums from senior governments for convention facilities. And there hasn’t been a peep out of opposition critics. So what makes Windsor different, apart from its failure to elect Tories?
Speaking of hypocrisy, the Conservative regimes of Mike Harris and Eves bent over backward to boost casino gaming in Niagara Falls which, wonder of wonders, just happened to have Tory representation.
In 2003, months before the provincial election, Eves announced — to the consternation of some gaming officials — that Niagara Falls would become a two-casino city, with Casino Niagara staying open along with the glittering new Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort.
I’m curious. When will Tory, the Tory of Tories, denounce the $500 million Mike Harris committed to Toronto waterfront improvements? And when will he slam the $1.5 billion that the Duncan budget is expected to include for a 6.2-kilometre Toronto subway line extension?
Don’t hold your breath. The Toronto area has clout. It can make or break a government. Far better to focus on a soft and inviting target like Windsor where the political fallout is minimal.
You’re a big disappointment, Mr. Tory. You truly are.
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  #44  
Old Posted Mar 21, 2006, 3:46 PM
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JBinCalgary JBinCalgary is offline
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good news on the casino expansion
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  #45  
Old Posted Mar 21, 2006, 3:49 PM
y2k_pony y2k_pony is offline
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thanks for the read! Gord really hit the nail on the head with that article!
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  #46  
Old Posted Mar 21, 2006, 5:56 PM
FenderStrat FenderStrat is offline
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I posted some digital camera pics of the casino construction earlier in this thread, and here are a few more:







If you look closely in the last two pics you can see that work has started on the second floor of the underground parking structure. They still have a long way to go but the project seems to be progressing quicker now. Some days they work 24 hours, other days they have all their lights shut off by 7pm.

Anyway does anybody want me to continue posting these pics in here? I think they are much better to look at than the low res/unfocused webcam pics the casino itself provides, but if nobody cares about them then I won't go to the trouble of putting them on a hosting server.
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  #47  
Old Posted Mar 21, 2006, 7:34 PM
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Yes, keep posting pics!!! They're much appreciated.
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  #48  
Old Posted Mar 21, 2006, 8:17 PM
FenderStrat FenderStrat is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Blitz
Yes, keep posting pics!!! They're much appreciated.
Okay I didn't receive any comments on the other ones that I posted, so I thought I'd figure out if anyone actually was interested in the ones I was posting. I try to take a few more digital camera pics every few weeks, time and weather permitting. I also have archived webcam pics (as provided by casinowindsor.com) dating back to soil testing, and the erecting of the white construction wall. I don't have any pictures documenting the construction of the casino itself (digital cameras were pretty uncommon on the mid 90s), so I wanted to get a bunch of the various stages of construction of the expansion.

By the way, the Portofino project is coming along quite nicely! I drive by it almost every day but never have time to stop and take pictures of it. Soon I'll take some though, as they have made a lot of progress on it and things are starting to take shape.
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  #49  
Old Posted Mar 21, 2006, 10:10 PM
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Yeah, if you could get pics of Portofino that would be great too.
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  #50  
Old Posted Mar 22, 2006, 1:48 PM
y2k_pony y2k_pony is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FenderStrat
Anyway does anybody want me to continue posting these pics in here? I think they are much better to look at than the low res/unfocused webcam pics the casino itself provides, but if nobody cares about them then I won't go to the trouble of putting them on a hosting server.
yes please continue posting these pics. Alot of people on here I'm sure will enjoy them. BTW what kind of camera do you use?
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  #51  
Old Posted Mar 22, 2006, 2:09 PM
FenderStrat FenderStrat is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by y2k_pony
yes please continue posting these pics. Alot of people on here I'm sure will enjoy them. BTW what kind of camera do you use?
A Canon Powershot S200. Its 3.5 years old, but I'm still pleased with it. Those pictures are all resized to 800x600 to ease download times a bit. Why do you ask?
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  #52  
Old Posted Mar 22, 2006, 2:56 PM
y2k_pony y2k_pony is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FenderStrat
Why do you ask?
the images turn out very clear. (also was looking at buying a new camera.)
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  #53  
Old Posted Mar 29, 2006, 5:45 AM
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Casino Expansion and Portofino

Hey guys. My buddy Owen and I went around and snapped some pictures of the Casino construction site and the Portofino Condos. I'll post links for the pictures.

Portofino 1

Portofino 2

Casino 1

Casino 2

Casino 3

I also have some pics of the Nemak plant during the fire today. They aren't very exciting but if anybody feels like taking a look, you can check my entry into the Livejournal community of Windsor Users

P.S. The Casino pics have a blueish tint because we took them through the glass of the hotel.

Enjoy.

Josh
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  #54  
Old Posted Mar 29, 2006, 5:57 AM
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Thanks for showing those pics!

Last edited by Blitz; Apr 30, 2008 at 2:18 AM.
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  #55  
Old Posted Mar 29, 2006, 8:54 PM
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Yeah. I live right near there and I can't get over how fast they are constructing those floors. It is going to be a great looking building once it's fully completed.
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  #56  
Old Posted Mar 30, 2006, 1:30 AM
arnold arnold is offline
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hey, awesome pics cujo. thanks.

and i have to admit, that the downtown looks fairly impressive in that third casino shot. very dense, getting denser.

speaking of downtown, what's happening with the old armoury? have they decided on a new use for it yet?
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  #57  
Old Posted Mar 30, 2006, 2:24 AM
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The armoury is still up in the air.

I heard something about a new office building proposed downtown at the old Central Chrysler site (Goyeau & Elliott).

Last edited by Blitz; Apr 30, 2008 at 2:18 AM.
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  #58  
Old Posted Mar 30, 2006, 2:27 AM
y2k_pony y2k_pony is offline
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great pics. I was by the casino today and now the have the second crane up. This project is really starting to take shape!! Blitz, I heard about this but nothing has been released in the windsor star, there is also no signs on the property that prove this rumor is true.
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  #59  
Old Posted Mar 31, 2006, 9:40 PM
FenderStrat FenderStrat is offline
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Hey Cujo I guess great minds think alike. Before seeing your pictures yesterday I went out and did the exact same thing (took some pics of Portofino and the Casino site). Your portofino pics are actually better than mine, so I won't bother posting mine since it would be redundant. However I thought I'd post my casino pics since they are 1-2 days newer than yours, and the second crane is assembled. They are working a lot quicker in that site now.

anyway here goes ..


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  #60  
Old Posted Apr 1, 2006, 1:30 AM
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Great work with the pics guys!

More news....
The University of Windsor will be building a 5-storey residence hall in the 700 block of California Avenue. It will sit just south of the new Engineering building to be built at Wyandotte & California.
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