|
I was intrigued last night by the question from Mr. Hightower about putting a Casino in Downtown Middletown as part of bringing downtown back. While a full fledged Casino may be to much, something more along the lines of what they did in Bangor, ME may be in order:
Maine Slots Are Big Hit
In its first year of operation, Maine's first slot machine parlor had more than 860,000 visits by gamblers who placed more than half a billion dollars in wagers.
Hollywood Slots at Bangor, which marked its first anniversary on Saturday, has drawn more customers and generated more revenues than expected. The state and the city of Bangor have received more than $17 million as their cuts from the operation.
The Hollywood Slots facility is a temporary operation with 475 slot machines, a small restaurant and bar and little else for amenities. Penn National Gaming, who runs the operation, plans to replace the temporary Hollywood Slots facility with a permanent 116,000-square-foot casino with 1,000 slot machines and the capacity for 1,500. It'll have a hotel, three restaurants, an entertainment lounge, a gift shop and a parking garage for 1,500 vehicles.
This summer I went to this small city of about 30000 people with an average income less than Middletowns and to say the least this town was hustling and bustling along. I also visited the temporary slot location while their permanent location was being built, it was interesting to say the least.
It is time for Ohio and Middletown to wake up and think outside of the box. Personally I don't see a downtown revival working unless you have some major draw other than some Art studios and sidewalk cafes, we must draw from outside of Middletown.
Yes there are always negatives with anything that is new, but they can be overcome. Argosy over in Indiana is chugging along with many people from Ohio taking their hard earned money there. The State runs its little gambling operation in the form of the State Lottery.
The key here is to think outside of the box in this new economy and not to just say NO all of the time.
|