midweek edition WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9, 2011
Vol. 102 No. 19 • Established 1908
19 22 Casino company president sticks with slot, table numbers Hang time
Saints and Demons
Citizens, casino workers pack Vancouver city hall for public hearing Mike Howell Staff writer A Las Vegas company proposing to build a mega casino adjacent to B.C. Place Stadium will not consider reducing the number of games tables and slot machines to win approval for the project. Paragon Gaming Inc. made that clear Monday night at a packed public hearing when its president Scott Menke answered questions from Coun. David Cadman regarding the size of what would be the largest casino in Western Canada.
“The numbers that we have come up with are not just pulling numbers out of the air,” said Menke, standing at a lectern in the council chambers at city hall. Menke said the proposed 150 games tables and 1,500 slot machines are to meet the demand for gaming in the city, particularly for potential gamblers the casino will attract from B.C. Place. The proposal calls for the casino to be attached to one of the gates at the stadium, allowing spectators at a sporting event or concert to walk directly into the facility.
Paragon operates Edgewater Casino at the Plaza of Nations, which has 75 games tables and 520 slot machines. It wants to relocate to land immediately west of the stadium. The $500 million project includes two hotels and restaurants. More than 300 people attended the first night of the hearing, including dozens of Edgewater workers dressed in yellow T-shirts emblazoned with “save our jobs” on the front. They arrived in shuttle buses and huddled around the front steps of city hall while a large group of people belonging
to the Vancouver, not Vegas! coalition held banners opposing the casino and chanted, “no, casino.” Once inside city hall, the main gallery in the chambers and balcony filled up quickly, leaving about 100 people to sit in chairs in the foyer and watch the meeting from a television. Outbursts were few over threeand-a-half hours, although David Podmore of the B.C. Pavilion Corporation, the landlord of the proposed site, was interrupted during his presentation. “I’ve always tried to conduct myself in a civil manner and I
Anti-casino advocate Sandy Garossino (with megaphone) led protestors outside city hall Monday night.
hope people will as well during this debate,” said Podmore in response to jeers from people over his comment that it was easier to be a critic than the proponent of the proposal. Paragon’s lease for the Edgewater casino expires in 2013, and employees, including Thane Boulter, are worried they will lose jobs if council rejects the new facility. “My wife also works for Edgewater, so if this proposal does not go through, of course it’s a double bam to our family income,” Boulter told council. See PARAGON on page 4
photo Dan Toulgoet
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