Jim Tarbell
Jim Tarbell has been trying for well over a decade to get something big built at the northeast downtown site known as Broadway Commons.
When the county was trying to decide where to put new homes for the Cincinnati Reds and the Cincinnati Bengals, Tarbell led an effort to get the new ballpark built there. (Anyone still have an old "Baseball at Broadway Commons" poster or banner in your basement?)
So Tarbell was super excited when casino developer Rock Gaming picked the site for the $400 million Cincinnati casino development.
When the casino’s name was unveiled, however, Tarbell had to admit he was hoping for more than “Horseshoe Casino Cincinnati.”
“It would be good if some reference to the city’s history or this site’s history were included,” said Tarbell, the former Cincinnati Vice Mayor and Cincinnati history buff. “Maybe Horseshoe Casino at Broadway Commons?”
The first business on the Broadway Commons site was a saloon in 1810 called the Pegasus, Tarbell said.
“Maybe the Pegasus pub?” he offered.
TODAY IN PRINT: Who will get Cincinnati's casino jobs?
Now that ground has been broken, developers will now work to balance promises made about hiring for construction jobs at the casino. Read how the issue is unfolding in today's print edition. The story is available online to subscribers only.
I buttonholed Rock Gaming President Matt Cullen after the casino ground breaking event to ask him about that. (Buttonholing is what we reporters do, especially when we’re asking someone a question with the potential to annoy them.) To Cullen’s credit, he did not seem annoyed. Rather, he seemed receptive.
I told him Tarbell’s suggestion about maybe adding Broadway Commons or Pegasus to the name somehow to give the casino a deeper Cincinnati connection.
“I don’t think you can fit it into the name,” Cullen said. “A name can only be so long.”
But maybe there could be a Pegasus bar inside the development, he said.
“We absolutely want to make it part of Cincinnati so those local aspects will be important,” he said.
What do you think? What would you name the new casino if you could choose? And do you think the Caesars Entertainment Horseshoe brand is a good fit for this market?
You're almost there...
To access the full benefits of bizWatch and receive a weekly email with aggregated news on all the companies you are following, please provide your email address below.
You must have a bizjournals account to follow a company.
Please Log In or Register.
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|