Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 4

4A DETROIT FREE PRESSFRIDAY, DECEMBER 20, i996 MORE NEWS Headlines and more national and world news in the second A section, starting on Page 13A. Develo lans for Detroit casinos oers have grand 1 iU i Casino visions I NbETROlT. I Leading candidates for casino licenses In -Detroit unveiled concepts Thursday. Casinos are planned for Greektown and In an unchosen area between Woodward and VDetaU A Washington Blvd. Here's a look at the Greektown plan: Proposed II3M display spanning Infttrnotlnn'it Bar-Lisa Street Pronosed 1 Canter Macon1 zfn ATT r7 I )U WBSIUUWII Proposed hotel atop parking garage Atheneum casino I Pesi 1 iftl illi1 -Pli fc 1 fill 1 IS jirdp c- rort 5' Mover step moved to Cress and 8xt 11 (Si entrsace Congress People Mover ,1 4 1 UT2 HANK SZERLAG7 Detroit Free Press and restaurants beneath an airy bubble.

Millions of bulbs would create a light show inside the roof. If the city were willing, he'd like to move the People Mover stop in Greektown to the casino's front door at the northeast corner of Lafayette and Beaubien. The tracks would then cross the street, putting the People Mover inside the flashing "Beaubien Street Experi- Casino, from Page ia The Greektown group and Atwater Entertainment laid out their plans and discussed financing with Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer's advisory task force on casinos Thursday in closed meetings. The task force will make recommendations to Archer, who, would then decide An artisfs conception of a possible Greektown casino, with a hotel, covered walkways, valet service and a People Mover stop. new stadiums and theater district, with a casino, a hotel with .1,000 or more rooms, nightclub stage, restaurants, a movie theater, and an asyet-undecided family attraction found nowhere else in the world.

Atwater is "We don't want to Vegas-ize Detroit. We want to give it a new identity: big, spectacular and lots Of fun." PAULSTEELMAN, Las Vegas architect for casino group which plans to bring before the Detroit City Council for approval, and then to the state board for licensing. The task force mostly listened, but raised questions about the small size of the Greektown project's new hotel and about the potential traffic impact on already- ence, as ne dubs it He also would build an arch over Gratiot and perhaps other, major streets to provide a gateway to the area and a sym- bolic entrance to a new Detroit, he said. The project, expected to cost at least $300 million and include square feet of gambling interviewing potential developers for that attraction. local architects on a design and has identified property owners of the land it wants.

Atwater says it won't do more until it gets direction from the city on where the casino should go. Like the Greektown casino, the design will rely on brick and traditional, old-style architecture, blended with modern elements, he said. "We won't focus on special effects outside," he said. "When you have three casinos, what matters is what's inside." He wants it on the edge of the city's would be under a covered mall, with common areas and tropical gardens. The cost is undetermined, but the project will be "world-class," Celani said.

The group is talking with four of the nation's largest casino firms and expects to choose a partner by Feb. 1. The Greektown group and another prospective casino operator, Detroit businessman and riverboat casino owner Don Barden, say they do not plan joint ventures with large gambling firms. Atwater has begun working with elude a needle-like observatory rising above Greektown. The Greektown partners own some of the land and have options on other parcels, Martin said.

Theirs is not the only grand vision. i Celani said the Atwater group-plans a huge casino complex on 20 to 1 25 acres, or 18-23 football fields in size. He would prefer to put the. casino on Washington Boulevard near Woodward, with retail shops I fronting Woodward. The casino and 100,000 square feet of shopping Celani hopes in early 1998 to set up a temporary casino, about half the size of the permanent one.

Whether that happens depends on how quickly the city and state move in setting up requirements for casinos and rules operators must follow. space, also would include a new parking garage, a tour-bus depot, a valet parking area outside and a 400-room hotel atop an existing parking garage. congested Greektown, said Roger Martin, a spokesman for the Greektown group. Task force members also questioned how developers will pay for these grand visions. Martin and Tom Your time is running out.

But your gift choices don't have to; Building fronts along Monroe, from Randolph to the freeway, would be Celani, an Atwater partner, said many Wall Street investment firms have- redone, with awnings, sidewalk cafes and landscaping. approached them, offering Ted Gatzaros, one of the Greek-town principals, also assured the task force that blacks will be among the is The casino would be housed in a L-shaped building addition that would wrap around Trappers Alley. It would very sin have a soaring atrium entrance, big, casino's owners, Martin said. le fur now. Steelman has designed or helped arched windows, a tall, lighted Spire design three dozen casinos, including on top and shops lining the edges of the casino.

sale on Las Vegas' imposing and dramatic. Mirage, which features a dolphin pool and an exploding volcano. He said Greektown is a great place for a casino, but "needs a little bit of glamour." Steelman's vision is to turn bien Street, possibly from Greektown to Adams, into an avenue of shops Covered walkways would lead to various casino entrances. The casino would be on the second and third levels, with an escalator taking visitors up from the ground floor. Steelman said the nearby streets would fill in with new shopping and restaurants.

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