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The deal for a Seneca Indian casino in Niagara Falls likely will be completed in 30 to 60 days, the Reporter has learned. And the developer will be Sevenson, the multi-million dollar corporation controlled by members of Mayor Irene Elia's family, sources said.
Tentative plans call for the casino to be temporarily housed in the Niagara Falls Convention and Civic Center, while the permanent casino is built on the Aquarium of Niagara property, which will be acquired under the state's eminent domain laws. Sources say the Senecas need only an agreement--and not a compact--with Gov. George Pataki for the deal to go through. Tribal leaders met with the Governor late last week to seal the pact, sources said.
For the first time, Seneca Nation President Cyrus Schindler has a majority of tribal council members anxious to become involved in gaming. Council members serve terms of just one year, and it is believed to be imperative that the move be made quickly.
"This will be a full Class Three facility, with 3,000 slots and 150 green tables," one gaming source told the Reporter. "We will have everything on this side of the river they've got on the other side."
Although the Senecas broke off talks with Baltimore developer David Cordish two weeks ago, and Niagara Falls Redevelopment never entered into negotiations due to the lack of a formal agreement between the Seneca Nation and the state, it is expected that a number of local promoters will play a role in the project. In addition to Cordish and NFR, local businessmen Harry Williams and John Prozeralik are said to have taken an interest.
"We can all do business," a source said. "This is what all of us, and the city, have been waiting for."
As of last week, meetings between various development groups were being arranged, and mothballed construction plans were taken out of drawers and dusted off. While absolutely no one would speak on the record, sources close to the Senecas, no fewer than four potential developers and players in Albany, told the Reporter that the all-but-done deal remains the key to the future of Niagara Falls.
"In that sense, it doesn't matter who gets the deal because the spinoff is going to be tremendous," a source said. "Substantial portions of the city are going to be completely rebuilt to accommodate the folks who are going to be coming in here to gamble."
Among the plans on the drawing board--and likely to get under way once the casino deal formally is announced--is a new convention center-hotel-shopping complex on the site of the old Splash Park and a butterfly conservatory at the Wintergarden. The formal announcement of the casino also will serve to kickstart such moribund projects as AquaFalls and the tethered balloon ride attraction slated to be located near the Hard Rock Cafe. The announcement also could serve to breathe new life into the deserted Rainbow Centre Mall.
"Everyone will benefit from this," a source said. "From the top to the bottom."
As many as 1,500 casino jobs will be created, and the building trade unions will be kept busy for years, both on the construction of the new facility and spinoff projects.
Furthermore, every developer and businessman with an interest in the South End and Main Street would see their investments paying off, sources agreed.
In 1998, Sevenson spokesman Michael Elia announced his company's intentions to seek a deal with the Senecas that would bring legalized gaming here. Apparently, those efforts have paid off. Far less certain are the political ramifications for Mayor Irene Elia, who by some accounts had no idea of the Sevenson negotiations and was pushing Cordish on the Senecas.
But the deal is likely to benefit both her personal finances and political fortunes. Had Jim Galie seen this announcement during the waning days of his term, he probably would still be mayor today.
"Whether she knew anything about it or not, people are going to be screaming about this," a City Hall source said.