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Superstar
Cant believe there are people here that would rather see the average working stiff taxed for revenues.... than have, Road Tolls, Casino, etc.etc.etc.
- Thread starter vistaway
- Start date
astroturf
New Member
Gawd people definitely need to become less prudish. A casino would definitely be a great asset to Ontario place, great location - and a permanent solution to fund a cash-starved operation. Its a win-win-win proposition. I never knew there was a constitutional right for Niagara, and our friends at the Indian reserves, for exclusivity when it comes to casinos.
Tulse
Senior Member
There isn't any guarantee of exclusivity, of course, but creating new casino is a provincial decision, not a city decision, and I'm not sure if the Tories want to piss off Niagara or Rama (or Windsor).
Grimace
Active Member
Action Jackson:
I like a lot of these ideas. My thoughts on your points:
1) Yes. TIFF could make a point of having some IMAX entries every year.
2) Yes.
3)I'm not sure modifying the pods is the right way to preserve their heritage and landmark status. I think people would fall out if they were night clubs. I actually think that the west and east parking lots should be used for restaurants/nightclubs.
4) We have an aquarium being built under the CN Tower. I don't have a strong view about the marina, though I have no boat when I was a kid I liked looking that the boats at OP.
5) This was one of my main thoughts about OP. Toronto has a school pool every few blocks but none of its pools are fun. I will often take the kids to the Mississauga pools when visiting the in-laws because they have better pools for fun swims. Calgary has municipal wave pools. OP would be a great place for an indoor/outdoor water park -- maybe partner with the operators of Great Wolf.
6) Sounds fascinating, but now you're starting to sound a bit crazy.
7) I personally don't think roller coasters fit the rest of your OP concept, but agree that one or two really good permanent roller coasters at the Ex is a good idea. Ferris wheel could work.
8) I'm not so big on the casino.
9) See #7
10) See #6
11) You're going to spend $1 billion but keep above ground parking? No. I think that the transit issue could be resolved elegantly in a relatively cheap fashion. A well designed, futuristic or historic, free or cheap tourist road trolley (basically a bus that people don't think of as a bus) running very frequently from May to October and a little less frequently in the winter from Maple Leaf Square along Bremner (passing new Delta, MTCC, Roundhouse, Aquarium, CN Tower, Roger's Centre) through to Fort York Blvd (passing Cityplace Park, Fort York) into Exhibition, down to OP, and along Lakeshore to Palais Royale, Sunnyside, West Beaches, High Park, Humber Shores).
12) Ok.
13) I wonder what the cost of making the Amphitheatre an indoor/outdoor event facility would be. Would need a very large glass sliding door amongst other things. Would be part of making OP a four season venue.
14) I agree about more theatres though 8 may be a bit much. A couple more cinespheres?
15) I don't care.
16) Isn't the great big new waterpark taking over most of the east island?
I like a lot of these ideas. My thoughts on your points:
1) Yes. TIFF could make a point of having some IMAX entries every year.
2) Yes.
3)I'm not sure modifying the pods is the right way to preserve their heritage and landmark status. I think people would fall out if they were night clubs. I actually think that the west and east parking lots should be used for restaurants/nightclubs.
4) We have an aquarium being built under the CN Tower. I don't have a strong view about the marina, though I have no boat when I was a kid I liked looking that the boats at OP.
5) This was one of my main thoughts about OP. Toronto has a school pool every few blocks but none of its pools are fun. I will often take the kids to the Mississauga pools when visiting the in-laws because they have better pools for fun swims. Calgary has municipal wave pools. OP would be a great place for an indoor/outdoor water park -- maybe partner with the operators of Great Wolf.
6) Sounds fascinating, but now you're starting to sound a bit crazy.
7) I personally don't think roller coasters fit the rest of your OP concept, but agree that one or two really good permanent roller coasters at the Ex is a good idea. Ferris wheel could work.
8) I'm not so big on the casino.
9) See #7
10) See #6
11) You're going to spend $1 billion but keep above ground parking? No. I think that the transit issue could be resolved elegantly in a relatively cheap fashion. A well designed, futuristic or historic, free or cheap tourist road trolley (basically a bus that people don't think of as a bus) running very frequently from May to October and a little less frequently in the winter from Maple Leaf Square along Bremner (passing new Delta, MTCC, Roundhouse, Aquarium, CN Tower, Roger's Centre) through to Fort York Blvd (passing Cityplace Park, Fort York) into Exhibition, down to OP, and along Lakeshore to Palais Royale, Sunnyside, West Beaches, High Park, Humber Shores).
12) Ok.
13) I wonder what the cost of making the Amphitheatre an indoor/outdoor event facility would be. Would need a very large glass sliding door amongst other things. Would be part of making OP a four season venue.
14) I agree about more theatres though 8 may be a bit much. A couple more cinespheres?
15) I don't care.
16) Isn't the great big new waterpark taking over most of the east island?
uptown
Active Member
I'm glad it's in the Provincial government's hands rather than the municipal government. If it were the latter it would probably wind up being a Smart Centre and a few condos along with a dedicated flyover ramp taking you from the Gardiner to a Tim Hortons drive through window located where the Cinesphere currently stands.
Automation Gallery
Superstar
uptown
Active Member
Casinos (and many civil service jobs) are strategically located in communities with economies that are much less diversified than that of the GTA. They're often one-horse towns or boom-and-bust resource economies where a company employing 1000 people that suddenly decides to pull up the stakes and leave town can deliver a devastating blow. In Toronto a company employing 1000 people that skips town barely registers on the radar. Thes places with casinos need steady jobs and a solid tax base as nobody benefits if the hinterlands are dotted with places that have 60% unemployment. Having everyone north of Barrie or west of Hamilton coalesce in cookie-cutter houses on cul-de-sacs in Mississauga and drive 80 kms per day to and from their job in a Toyota Rav 4 isn't a viable answer. Let there be a Casino Niagara and Casino Rama that doesn't have to compete with a Casino Toronto. Heck, let there be a Casino Moosonee or Casino Pickle Lake if it improves the lot of the residents.
Thanos
Active Member
London, Moscow, Monaco, Lisboa, Melbourne, Berlin, Hamburg, Buenos Aires, Prague, Montreal all have casinos. And that's just a few examples.
Seriously people lighten up. Toronto should have a casino.
Seriously people lighten up. Toronto should have a casino.
Automation Gallery
Superstar
I agree, forget about the myth that the gangsters and crime will move in
adma
Superstar
Remember the top "tourist attraction" in the Fords' ward: Woodbine...
Automation Gallery
Superstar
Actually adma dont laugh..thats not dead yet and ready to re-launch sometime this year, they say
condovo
Senior Member
Navy Pier in Chicago is also at a crossroads.
5 fresh visions for Navy Pier
From pools to amphitheaters, proposals from competing teams offer elements that are spectacular — and budget-busting
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-01-30/news/ct-met-navy-pier-redesign-kamin-20120131_1_crystal-gardens-navy-pier-pier-officials
5 fresh visions for Navy Pier
From pools to amphitheaters, proposals from competing teams offer elements that are spectacular — and budget-busting
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-01-30/news/ct-met-navy-pier-redesign-kamin-20120131_1_crystal-gardens-navy-pier-pier-officials
adma
Superstar
Actually adma dont laugh..thats not dead yet and ready to re-launch sometime this year, they say
I didn't say Woodbine Live. I said Woodbine, i.e. the existing race track/slots venue, which is as close to a genuine "casino" as Toronto gets these days...
Tewder
Senior Member
Aside from Monaco which is hardly a major city do any tourists travel to any of those places to hang out at the casino? Aside from the lure of a swanky building - and have you seen casinos in Ontario?? - is a casino the best use for prime waterfront land and/or the revitalization of OP?
I don't have a problem with casinos per se but I do question what it will actually add to Toronto vs what it will cost. The provincial government will run it and get the revenue anyway, whether it's in Toronto or Niagara... and we've already argued that Niagara needs the casino more and is better able to draw actual tourists with the casino than Toronto would be where it will mainly lure locals. Still seems somewhat desperate to me, like we've simply run out of vision or good ideas... What's in that article about Navy Pier again?
junctionist
Senior Member
It should continue to be an attraction for youth in addition to new uses. We're not gaining many children's attractions as a city, and a lot of people have fond memories of the place growing up. I also feel that letting the private sector involvement should be limited because Ontario Place is emblematic of a strong government building a the identity of a place and striving to ensure the well-being of its citizens. It's a positive history that deserves to be furthered with confidence in a new revitalization scheme.