To all: FYI
WINDSOR CASINO KEEPS UP BRISK PACE
August 10, 1998
BY JENNIFER DIXON
Free Press Staff Writer
After its recent opening weekend of overwhelming crowds,
Casino Windsor has settled into a brisk rhythm.
Gamblers breezed into the glitzy, Vegas-style gambling hall on
the Detroit River over the past weekend. It was in stark contrast
to the casino's first weekend in business, Aug. 1-2.
Then, long lines of people spilled from the casino's entrances
and gamblers waited up to 40 minutes to get through the doors.
Traffic around the building was bumper-to-bumper and
gawkers caused a pair of fender-benders, police reported.
"There still seems to be a lot of excitement and desire in people
to have a look at what this facility is all about," Jim Mundy,
Casino Windsor spokesman, said Sunday. He estimated the
weekend crowds at 20,000 to 30,000 a day.
During the opening weekend, with up to 40,000 people a day
moving through the casino complex, restaurants ran short on
food.
Attendance slid the following work week -- to 25,000 gamblers
a day. But that is still higher than the combined 18,000 people a
day who frequented Windsor's Northern Belle riverboat or its
temporary casino in a former art gallery.
The crowds have forced the Riverside Grille, the casino's
priciest restaurant, to limit diners to hotel guests and gamblers
on the premises.
The casino's suppliers are also feeling the squeeze, and the
search continues for additional food and beverage staff,
including 20 to 30 chefs.
The casino opened July 29, six days after the temporary casino
closed. The temporary casinos were pulling in $1 million a day
and officials have said they expect those revenues to increase.
Eighty-percent of gamblers have been from the United States.
Detroit's three temporary casinos may be open as early as next
spring. |
