It's certainly going to be different.
People who aren't lost walking around town past Fourth Street.
State troopers downtown.
Parking and traffic issues on days other than the Fourth of July.
The biggest change wrought by the Dec. 31 opening of the Seneca Niagara Casino -- a spark of life in an area laid low long ago by bad planning and worse politics.
Regardless of your opinion on whether legalized gambling can succeed where Urban Renewal failed, or whether the casino will help or hurt surrounding businesses, there's no debating one thing -- this is the biggest thing to happen to Niagara Falls since the wrecking ball started swinging on Falls Street more than 30 years ago.
We all know how well that worked out.
Urban Renewal tried to save downtown by destroying it, and replacing the old restaurants, bars, stores and theaters with a maze of concrete walkways and parking ramps designed to accommodate the millions of tourists who would pour in. Problem was, it didn't include anything to actually attract all those people, or anyplace to spend their money if they did come.
Officials eventually centered on a convention center as the tourism anchor, a questionable proposition at best. If you weren't attending a convention or one of the smattering of other events held there, there was absolutely no incentive for strolling between the falls and the enormous concrete edifice on Fourth Street.
That all changes at noon on New Year's Eve, when the doors officially open and the coins start falling.
That much we know for sure. Beyond that, plenty of questions remain.
What will it be like?
The Seneca Nation's ambitious schedule for turning a leaking, nondescript cement barn into a gambling palace left plenty of room to wonder if they'd essentially be wheeling in the slot machines, setting up the tables and opening the doors.
Not even close. With renovations going on around the clock, seven days a week, the convention center morphed into a casino on schedule (a deadline for completion of primary construction last Friday was met) and in style.
"You won't recognize it inside," said one construction worker who has been on the project since Day One. "The transformation has really been amazing, especially given the time constraints."
Ornate stainless steel drop ceilings in the concourses, granite surfaces in the refurbished rest rooms, swanky eating and drinking areas and the 82,000-square-foot gambling floor fill a building that always seemed coldly institutional and too big for almost any event it hosted.
"Some of the architectural detail is very impressive," the worker said. "People are going to be impressed."
Members of the Seneca Nation will be the first non-workers to see the finished product, on Dec. 27. Political types and dignitaries follow the next day, with the general public getting their first glimpse during a "Play Night" scheduled for Dec. 29.
Can Seneca Niagara compete with Casino Niagara?
There are enough differences between the rivals on opposite sides of the Niagara River to make for some interesting comparisons.
Casino Niagara has the strength of the American dollar to appeal to gamblers from this side of the bridge, but that cuts both ways. Seneca Niagara promises free drinks for bettors, but therefore decided to set the minimum age for gamblers at 21, meaning 19- and 20-year-olds can only play in Ontario.
Casino Niagara officials clearly anticipate very real competition, and have already started advertising at levels unseen since shortly after its opening.
Ultimately, the competition should help both operations, with the opportunity to try two different facilities with different rules and styles likely to draw more people from a wider area.
The ongoing construction of a second Ontario casino should also spur the Seneca Nation to proceed as quickly as possible on the planned permanent casino on the former Splash Park property, once the legal battle over that land is settled.
Will the area around the casino be safe?
The financial woes of both the city and state have raised serious questions about who will police the area, but Niagara Falls Police Chief Christopher Carlin announced last week that city cops will work with state police, who will be in charge of enforcing the law inside the casino and out.
Financing for police patrols in the South End remains up in the air, at least until the state and city start receiving their share of the drop. The city may not be able to afford to have more officers patrolling the area in the short term, but in the long run, it absolutely can't afford not to.
Is this a good thing or a bad thing?
In the end, that will depend on a number of factors that have little to do with the casino itself. And even if Seneca Niagara succeeds beyond anyone's wildest hopes, the region will continue to have serious problems that no one development can fix. But that doesn't mean the possible benefits should be dismissed.
By all indications, from the rapid construction to its first advertisements to lighting up E. Dent Lackey Plaza and the moribund pedestrian mall for the holidays, the Seneca Gaming Corporation seems intent on doing things right. What happens outside the casino is also largely outside its control, though.
Casino opponents point to places like Atlantic City and the area around Connecticut's Foxwoods as proof that a casino doesn't guarantee successful surrounding development. And they're right.
But those places don't have a natural wonder of the world a few blocks away. It would be foolish to assume that everyone who wants to view Niagara Falls will also want to play the slots, or vice versa. But boosting the critical mass of people coming to the city, for whatever reason, appeals to the people with the money to build hotels, theaters, restaurants and other attractions.
With City Hall having proved itself incapable of just about anything, it's up to USA Niagara, the state's development arm, to recover from some early stumbling and help those developers succeed. Or at least not get in the way.
If that simple goal can be accomplished, it's not a stretch to imagine Niagara Falls, N.Y. regaining its long-lost status as a truly world-class tourist destination.
And that's got to be a good thing.
| Niagara Falls Reporter | www.niagarafallsreporter.com | December 23 2002 |