Changing Skyline: An artful urban casino or more big-box blah?
By Inga Saffron
The Philadelphia Inquirer, March 19, 2010
Pennsylvania's new casinos take the architectural term decorated shed very much to heart.
Harrah's Chester, the first to open in the Philadelphia region, actually is a metal shed, similar to the quickie warehouses that pop up along the New Jersey Turnpike but glammed up with an appliqué of glass and neon. Bensalem's three-month-old Parx resembles a big-box store with big LED screens - it's casino meets Costco. SugarHouse, now rising on Philadelphia's Delaware River, promises to be much the same.
So what are the chances that the South Philadelphia casino formally known as Foxwoods will turn out any better now that gaming maverick Steve Wynn has attached his name to the project?
In the formulaic world of casino design, Wynn ranks as an innovator. His Bellagio, which opened in 1998, was the first to infuse the Las Vegas mega-casino with some of the highbrow feel of a European resort. He did it by engaging a smart architect, Jon Jerde, and packing the place with chef-driven restaurants, designer boutiques, a full-service spa, and a serious art museum. The result was a place you might want to visit even if you don't gamble.
But Wynn's pronouncements after becoming the lead investor in the controversial Foxwoods project made you wonder whether the guy had lost his touch, along with his interpersonal skills.
Wynn, one of the Wharton School's more famous graduates, managed to be both flip and insulting by promising to build "the cutest casino" ever, and to include an Asian restaurant to placate South Philly's Vietnamese population. Does he think that the prospect of mediocre pho tai will make someone feel better about a massive, 24-hour entertainment venue in the rowhouse neighborhood?
Wynn looked outright bumbling when he told The Inquirer's Jennifer Lin in a videotaped interview that he had never heard of the Civic Vision for the Delaware, the official city guide to waterfront development. You would think that a guy who's about to drop $250 million might have consulted the local rule book.
Let's not give up on Wynn's design capabilities yet. "He does it better than anyone else, especially with table games," insists Roger Gros, an industry expert who publishes several magazines, including CasinoDesign. Wynn's successor to Bellagio, Wynn Las Vegas, and his new Encore in Macao both maintain a high standard.
What could Wynn do to make his Philadelphia casino stand out from the dreary pack that will soon populate the I-95 corridor between Wilmington and Bensalem? For starters, he could go back to his Bellagio roots and adopt a design that feels like a real place, instead of just another supermarket of slots.
He'll find some excellent design tips in the Civic Vision and a 2008 follow-up prepared by the city's PennPraxis consultants, titled Casino Site Plan Review.
Tip No. 1: Treat the site like any Philadelphia block and include streets, sidewalks, and sight lines to the glorious Delaware River. Tip No. 2: Reduce the industry parking requirements by half. Tip No. 3: Break up the mass to avoid another blank-walled Gallery.
You can already hear the cynics cackling: That'll draw the crowd known for its worship of the porte cochere.
But Wynn doesn't have to worry about hard-core players; they'd flock to his casino even if the machines were lined up in the parking lot. Doing things differently just might tempt some of the non-usual suspects.
While the Civic Vision guidelines are, unfortunately, nonbinding, an urbane - and urban - building shouldn't cost any more than the usual. That design would help Wynn's casino stand out from a crowd of look-alike sheds. A street-friendly treatment is also essential if Philadelphia ever hopes to make something out of its underused waterfront, and Wynn's casino can only benefit from the river's success.
To be clear, South Philly's casino will never be the Bellagio. The business has shifted from destination resorts to convenience gambling, quaintly called neighborhood casinos. They're exactly what the name implies, with none of the extras - hotels, theaters, shops - promised to Philadelphia during the licensing hearings. Wynn's Philadelphia casino will be his first foray into the tricky niche of convenience gambling.
For comparison's sake, I made a visit to Parx to see what the competition did with this form. Borrowing a page from Wynn, Parx is trying to make convenience gambling sexy.
It doesn't exactly feel that way during the three-mile trip from the I-95 exit. You pass so many strip malls and chain stores that you just assume that Parx's beige stucco building is the next one in the repeating series. The casino is set back from the road, and the first thing you see is a large muddy field, without any pretense of landscaping or sidewalks.
Only the three frenetic LED screens over the entrances confirm that yes, you have arrived at a casino, not Sam's Club. The porte cocheres were nearly deserted. Why tip, I suppose, when the parking lot has plenty of close-in spaces.
Once inside, though, Parx comes on strong, stronger than Harrah's Chester, where the gaming floor has all the atmosphere of a gymnasium. Parx perks up the big space with luxe materials, art-glass sculptures, twinkling chandeliers, and blazing plasma screens.
To heighten the vibe, Parx inserted several bars among the aisles of slots, including its much-touted, 180-degree, semicircular bar called 360 (but who's measuring). A stage behind the bar hosts musicians and dancers. Four guys with skinny ties were playing some desultory rock when I was there, which may explain why the dance floor resembled the Sahara. The crowd, quite substantial for a Monday night, remained tethered to their slots.
As part of its quest for glamour, Parx included a sit-down restaurant. It's similar to a high-end airport eatery, but with lower light levels. The restaurant at Harrah's at least offers views of the racetrack. Parx, incidentally, seems to have forgotten it's in the horse-racing business. The track and casino buildings aren't connected, and it's clear where all the investment went.
My guess, since Wynn's office declined to discuss its design plans, is that he will also try to increase the glitter component on Columbus Boulevard. But Wynn has only 16 acres to work with, compared with Parx's 450. As Parx suggests, a vast, 3,000-machine neighborhood casino can't help but feel like a discount store for gambling.
That makes me think it's only a matter of time before someone comes up with the casino equivalent of a microbrewery, an intimate, boutique-style gaming hall in a beautiful building. I wonder if Wynn knows that Strawbridge's is still available?
Harrah's Chester, the first to open in the Philadelphia region, actually is a metal shed, similar to the quickie warehouses that pop up along the New Jersey Turnpike but glammed up with an appliqué of glass and neon. Bensalem's three-month-old Parx resembles a big-box store with big LED screens - it's casino meets Costco. SugarHouse, now rising on Philadelphia's Delaware River, promises to be much the same.
So what are the chances that the South Philadelphia casino formally known as Foxwoods will turn out any better now that gaming maverick Steve Wynn has attached his name to the project?
In the formulaic world of casino design, Wynn ranks as an innovator. His Bellagio, which opened in 1998, was the first to infuse the Las Vegas mega-casino with some of the highbrow feel of a European resort. He did it by engaging a smart architect, Jon Jerde, and packing the place with chef-driven restaurants, designer boutiques, a full-service spa, and a serious art museum. The result was a place you might want to visit even if you don't gamble.
But Wynn's pronouncements after becoming the lead investor in the controversial Foxwoods project made you wonder whether the guy had lost his touch, along with his interpersonal skills.
Wynn, one of the Wharton School's more famous graduates, managed to be both flip and insulting by promising to build "the cutest casino" ever, and to include an Asian restaurant to placate South Philly's Vietnamese population. Does he think that the prospect of mediocre pho tai will make someone feel better about a massive, 24-hour entertainment venue in the rowhouse neighborhood?
Wynn looked outright bumbling when he told The Inquirer's Jennifer Lin in a videotaped interview that he had never heard of the Civic Vision for the Delaware, the official city guide to waterfront development. You would think that a guy who's about to drop $250 million might have consulted the local rule book.
Let's not give up on Wynn's design capabilities yet. "He does it better than anyone else, especially with table games," insists Roger Gros, an industry expert who publishes several magazines, including CasinoDesign. Wynn's successor to Bellagio, Wynn Las Vegas, and his new Encore in Macao both maintain a high standard.
What could Wynn do to make his Philadelphia casino stand out from the dreary pack that will soon populate the I-95 corridor between Wilmington and Bensalem? For starters, he could go back to his Bellagio roots and adopt a design that feels like a real place, instead of just another supermarket of slots.
He'll find some excellent design tips in the Civic Vision and a 2008 follow-up prepared by the city's PennPraxis consultants, titled Casino Site Plan Review.
Tip No. 1: Treat the site like any Philadelphia block and include streets, sidewalks, and sight lines to the glorious Delaware River. Tip No. 2: Reduce the industry parking requirements by half. Tip No. 3: Break up the mass to avoid another blank-walled Gallery.
You can already hear the cynics cackling: That'll draw the crowd known for its worship of the porte cochere.
But Wynn doesn't have to worry about hard-core players; they'd flock to his casino even if the machines were lined up in the parking lot. Doing things differently just might tempt some of the non-usual suspects.
While the Civic Vision guidelines are, unfortunately, nonbinding, an urbane - and urban - building shouldn't cost any more than the usual. That design would help Wynn's casino stand out from a crowd of look-alike sheds. A street-friendly treatment is also essential if Philadelphia ever hopes to make something out of its underused waterfront, and Wynn's casino can only benefit from the river's success.
To be clear, South Philly's casino will never be the Bellagio. The business has shifted from destination resorts to convenience gambling, quaintly called neighborhood casinos. They're exactly what the name implies, with none of the extras - hotels, theaters, shops - promised to Philadelphia during the licensing hearings. Wynn's Philadelphia casino will be his first foray into the tricky niche of convenience gambling.
For comparison's sake, I made a visit to Parx to see what the competition did with this form. Borrowing a page from Wynn, Parx is trying to make convenience gambling sexy.
It doesn't exactly feel that way during the three-mile trip from the I-95 exit. You pass so many strip malls and chain stores that you just assume that Parx's beige stucco building is the next one in the repeating series. The casino is set back from the road, and the first thing you see is a large muddy field, without any pretense of landscaping or sidewalks.
Only the three frenetic LED screens over the entrances confirm that yes, you have arrived at a casino, not Sam's Club. The porte cocheres were nearly deserted. Why tip, I suppose, when the parking lot has plenty of close-in spaces.
Once inside, though, Parx comes on strong, stronger than Harrah's Chester, where the gaming floor has all the atmosphere of a gymnasium. Parx perks up the big space with luxe materials, art-glass sculptures, twinkling chandeliers, and blazing plasma screens.
To heighten the vibe, Parx inserted several bars among the aisles of slots, including its much-touted, 180-degree, semicircular bar called 360 (but who's measuring). A stage behind the bar hosts musicians and dancers. Four guys with skinny ties were playing some desultory rock when I was there, which may explain why the dance floor resembled the Sahara. The crowd, quite substantial for a Monday night, remained tethered to their slots.
As part of its quest for glamour, Parx included a sit-down restaurant. It's similar to a high-end airport eatery, but with lower light levels. The restaurant at Harrah's at least offers views of the racetrack. Parx, incidentally, seems to have forgotten it's in the horse-racing business. The track and casino buildings aren't connected, and it's clear where all the investment went.
My guess, since Wynn's office declined to discuss its design plans, is that he will also try to increase the glitter component on Columbus Boulevard. But Wynn has only 16 acres to work with, compared with Parx's 450. As Parx suggests, a vast, 3,000-machine neighborhood casino can't help but feel like a discount store for gambling.
That makes me think it's only a matter of time before someone comes up with the casino equivalent of a microbrewery, an intimate, boutique-style gaming hall in a beautiful building. I wonder if Wynn knows that Strawbridge's is still available?