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7,000-seat venue proposed next to Fallsview Casino
Falls Management Company, a firm hired by Ontario Lottery and Gaming to manage Fallsview Casino and Casino Niagara, is planning the construction of a 7,000-seat entertainment complex next to Fallsview Casino, in the heart of the popular border city.
"Falls Management Company has had a desire to see a 7,000- seat entertainment centre built for a number of years," said Clare Copeland, Falls Management's CEO, in a recent press conference, adding,"For the past 18 months we have been actively investigating, ourselves, the viability of that concept."
While plans are still in the early stages, Falls Management believes the complex could be used to host a number of big name concert acts, large scale entertainment attractions, and high profile sporting events such as the Ultimate Fighting Championships.
"Certainly the 7,000-seat [facility] would be able to fulfill a UFC event," said Copeland. "We certainly couldn't do it in the 1,400 [seat Avalon theatre] we have today."
Falls Management is still deciding on a location for the proposed venue, but Clare told media the company was intent on placing the new complex next to Fallsview Casino. To that end, Clare said a real estate committee has been formed to identify ideal locations with this prerequisite in mind, explaining, "Any and all options will be put in place and we'll probably have an RFP. But it's not a want to have it going through the casino, it's a must. None of these [economic benefit] numbers work unless the traffic flows through the casino and back out from the theatre through the casino."
Moving forward, Falls Management's next steps are to continue building community support for the project with help from major stakeholders and local businesses. Niagara Falls MPP Kim Craitor has already said he is “extremely supportive” of the initiative, and that similar venues in Casino Windsor and Casino Rama are indicative of the potential economic and cultural gains, adding, “I had occasion to speak with the Minister of Finance Dwight Duncan last week. He said, 'Kim, one of the best things that happened to Windsor, one of the most positive things to us, was the entertainment centre that we put in...He had seen the results of what it did for their casino."
For now, the entertainment centre remains a sole Falls Management project. The company hopes to have it completed for 2014.
[Source: Niagara Falls Review]
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