Rumor Has it...

[ishoot308]

...that a casino may possibly go in where the arcade is on the pier at the Weirs. This came from a pretty reliable source...

Anyone else hear this?

Dan

[Descant]

Haven't heard anything, but it would be great to have s new activity at the Weirs, presumably, with a longer season (maybe April 30 -November 1?) . Can't imagine trying to heat that building.

[farechofisherman]

Casinos will ruin populated areas like Laconia and the greater Winni area. We need to build them in the middle of nowhere like the ones in Connecticut. They sound great and the snake oil salesmen will tell you all about the benefits, but you need to look behind the curtain. Atlantic City, Reno, Springfield and dozens of other cities thought casinos were the answer to revitalize their socioeconomic problems and in the long run they ruin the areas.

[John Mercier]

We have a casino in Belmont. The area isn't ruined.
Just not enough business to cover the overhead in these areas.

[LoveLakeLife]

I vote for bringing back the ballroom with rotating big bands.


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[Woodsy]

I seriously doubt a casino would go in the Weirs.... the Pier does not have the parking required per the Casino rules, neither does the Big House. I am also pretty sure all of the licenses in the State are spoken for. Not to mention the impact to the neighborhood!

Woodsy

[ishoot308]

From what I was told, the owner of the building the arcade is in has tripled the rent in an effort to get them out for a casino…Again all second hand info but reliable source.

For what it’s worth…

Dan

[BroadHopper]

I heard from very reliable sources that Bruton Smith, the last previous owner of the NH Speedway was lobbying to have in place a very large casino across the street from the race track. He has the infrastructure in place to support the venue.

[John Mercier]

He was when they were going to license a limited number of operations for extended casino gaming.

Problem was that the supporters of those casinos wanted to pick specific winners, which violates the NH Constitution.

They could auction a limited number of licenses, but could not choose the sites.

But the purpose of buying the NHIS was to move the NASCAR races to venues with greater revenue. NASCAR stopped him from removing all the races.

At that time, Boomers were making NASCAR attendance surge... but not enough in NH to fill the even the limited number of seats for two events.

Not even sure the single event fills up at this point in time.

[BroadHopper]

Locals will show up at NHIS at the ticket booth, just after the NASCAR race starts. If available empty seats were secured at a fraction of the original cost.

A buddy of mine even secured a box seat!

[RUGMAN]

Discussion of a zoning change for operation of casinos is on the City Council agenda for next Tuesday night the 27th. It maybe an opportunity to express any ones concerns about it being on Lakeside ave.

[sky's]

so happy i live in Sandwhich.

[JayR]

Bruton Smith died 3 years ago. His son Marcus now runs Speedway Motorsports. I know there is plenty of land there. Seems much more likely than any Weirs project, given the issues and space limitations there.

I still have a jar of those yellow "50" ticket coupons from when I was a kid. Anyone remember those? As you accumulated tickets from skee-ball and other games at the Weirs, you could trade 50 of them for one yellow one, so that you wouldn't have so many darn tickets cluttering up that old shoebox (which later also had Funspot tickets and tokens in it of course...)

[map]

It would be nice to have some better shops and cafes, etc. in that ugly building. I’d hate for a casino to go in there. I guess because of bike week we can’t have finer things here in the Weirs.

[WinnisquamZ]

“Because of Bike Week”. Your stupidity is showing. Bike week is the largest revenue event each season in the lakes region.


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[Tofu]

Originally Posted by WinnisquamZ

“Because of Bike Week”. Your stupidity is showing. Bike week is the largest revenue event each season in the lakes region.


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Those kind of remarks are uncalled for.....

[map]

Originally Posted by WinnisquamZ

“Because of Bike Week”. Your stupidity is showing. Bike week is the largest revenue event each season in the lakes region.


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I understand that. I’m just stating a fact. Almost everything done in the Weirs is based on Bike Week to the detriment of the rest of the year and other visitors and potential customers.

I do think the docks improvement was a good thing. Only thing is already there’s a major back up of boats. The Mount is going to have some issues with getting in and out of there.

[RUGMAN]

i believe the wording in the zoning change mentions that one of the requirements is that the operator has to have on-site parking which should eliminate Lakeside ave as a possible location.State regulations allows them to operate from 8 am to 4 am. I believe local zoning can not restrict hours of operation.

[WinnisquamZ]

Your source of “facts” is wrong. I have no love for the Laconia City Council, but no project has not been approved because it would harm “bike week”. If one has, please let everyone know. Your hatred towards Weirs should be directed at the Ames family and Anthony. Both are major property owners in the Weirs community and do little to no improvements to “improve” the area. Even if the wanted to it would take an act of Congress to remove the Civil War buildings and rebuild.


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[John Mercier]

Originally Posted by RUGMAN

i believe the wording in the zoning change mentions that one of the requirements is that the operator has to have on-site parking which should eliminate Lakeside ave as a possible location.State regulations allows them to operate from 8 am to 4 am. I believe local zoning can not restrict hours of operation.

I believe they can make it tighter, but not looser.

[John Mercier]

Originally Posted by WinnisquamZ

Your source of “facts” is wrong. I have no love for the Laconia City Council, but no project has not been approved because it would harm “bike week”. If one has, please let everyone know. Your hatred towards Weirs should be directed at the Ames family and Anthony. Both are major property owners in the Weirs community and do little to no improvements to “improve” the area. Even if the wanted to it would take an act of Congress to remove the Civil War buildings and rebuild.


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MAP didn't say projects were stopped because of Bike Week.
MAP is correct that Bike Week changes the development pattern.

It helps sustain a losing pattern of property development that can simply use the one event to make the holdings a non-negative financially.

Imagine if they banned all sales of alcohol during major events within the city. What do you suppose the changes would be?

My guess. The events would fall apart, and properties that where not sustainable due to taxation/etc would need to be sold.

Lakes Region Casino in Belmont has changed hands profusely, because its income barely covers the property taxes. Remove even a minor draw, and that goes negative.

So as long as the Ames can make enough money on the properties - some of that deriving from Bike Week - they will continue until a ridiculous offer comes along.