Ohio voters approved a Columbus casino site last November. But, city and civic leaders balked at the plan to build the casino in the arena district and are now suggesting alternate sites. The latest proposal: build the casino at the Continent shopping, motel and residential site on the city's north side.
The Continent once was a vibrant residential and retail development with quaint shops and apartments rendered in a French Quarter motif. Resident Dana Knapp remembers the Continent in its heyday.
"It was built kind of like as a French kind of open marketplace. They had a market; they had storefronts all up and down. Obviously apartments."
Knapp still lives at the Continent but he's seen the number of businesses decline. He says a casino might be just what the property owners need
"Well there's a lot of empty space here so that might be good for the people who own this place to be able to put it to use," Knapp says.
The real estate firm NAI Ohio Equities is representing the owner. Agent Michael Simpson says the Continent is an ideal location for a casino
"I think proximity to Polaris, I mean a casino is meant for tourists and certainly Polaris is also a great tourist site because of all the great shopping that we have there," Simpson says. "Good freeway access, good visibility from the highway, the sign that the Continent has out on I-71, a strong employment base, a well educated employment base, all of those things add up to making it a pretty strong site."
"When I moved here in '96, this was the jewel. It really could be again."
That's former resident Linda Douglas who says she's excited at the prospect of a casino .
Putting in a casino here I mean, wow, that would be great; I mean that would be totally awesome," Douglas says. "I might even move back!"
Others say they're not so sure about a casino's benefits. One of them is nearby resident Dale Willits
"I'm not sure that I necessarily believe that casinos bring the community down, bring crime in or anything like that," Willits says. "On the other hand I guess I really don't want to take the chance, either, since I just live down the street I don't want my area going to hell."
Neither does Pastor Stephen Fabyan who runs a Bible bookstore at the Continent. Fabyan says he's concerned about people from the North Side who might frequent a gambling establishment.
"My concern would rely with the people that would actually live here. So no I definitely wouldn't want the casino here. And that's mainly why, especially the people in need. They don't have a lot of hope in their lives and so they come in and spend their last dollar hoping to win and end up broke. And it doesn't help them. I know the casino is supposed to bring jobs but at what cost and profit are people willing to go and I just think that's too far," Fabyan says.
The Continent is one more in a handful of sites that have been suggested as alternatives to a casino in the Arena District downtown.