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Front pages:2008
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Slot machine bells and water park whistlesSome day, along with Las Vegas, Montreal, Philadelphia and Tanglewood, maybe Middleboro will make the New York Times list of the "31 places to go this summer" 5/31/08 When Glenn Marshall shared his vision of a resort casino complete with a water park in Middleboro I thought that would be something that I would enjoy. I thought in addition to my usual regimen of swimming laps at the Old Colony YMCA, healthy, relaxing but repetitive, a wave pool would be lots of fun. However, the math just didn't add up to me since maintaining a large standard indoor pool is expensive enough and indoor water park facilities would have to generate lots of cash just to break even. (In our climate any water park worthy of a billion dollar resort has to be a year round attraction.) I was reminded of this today reading "The 31 places to go this summer" (where the devalued dollar won't break your own bank) in the Sunday New York Times. Las Vegas was listed at number three as follows:
A stand alone resort casino doesn't have to compete with a city full of casinos by offering more than the "basic" non-gaming attractions in addition to the indoor and outdoor pools typical of any resort with a 1,000 room hotel. THus you'd expect a spa, upscale shops, a variety of restaurants from modest to five star, a championship level golf course, indoor arena sports events, A and B list entertainers, and perhaps a good tribal museum in the case of Indian casinos. The Middleboro casino will offer these, and unless the state allows commercial casinos and one opens within a half hour's drive, it won't be in competition with a similar nearby facility as Foxwoods is with Mohegan Sun. It's no secret that even with all of the above "whistles" it is the slot machine's "bells" (ka-ching, ka-ching , all the way to the bank) , and the other games of chance, that ring in the largest single percentage of any casino's profit. It would seem to be common sense that some customers would come to any casino to do nothing but gamble and nosh on bags of Fritos and Diet Coke and do so in an otherwise empty airplane hangar. I have no idea of the percentages, but obviously if casino investors could make a profit by building prefab airplane hangers filled with slot machines, and municipalities would allow it, some of them would be doing so. But my sense is that only the most inveterate gambler would patronize an establishment where the tingle of excitement running up their leg when they watch the slot wheels turn may be a Rattus norvegicus. The want the amenities, the ambience, and the feeling that they are valued customers even if they only spend $25 a day. It's all in the numbers and the equations don't have to be invented because investors only have to look at Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun to determine what is necessary to attract enough customers to make their huge investment worth their while. At present, without a similar competing resort casino down the road, it seems to me that we can make a good guess as to what the Mashpee Middleboro casino will offer in addition to gambling. Unfortunately for swimming aficionados of all ages, I don't see a Vegas style water park in the near future. Even so, some day, along with Las Vegas, Montreal, Philadelphia and Tanglewood, maybe Middleboro will make the New York Times list of the "31 places to go this summer". For an example of a dream facility click here to see what the indoor water park at the Danvers Sheraton is like. |
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It's real. It's serious. But because Middleboro almost certain to host a resort that is also a major casino, we should learn the basics about this psychiatric disorder.
