ToCasino.net Online Casino

October 8, 2012 was a historic day for west Columbus.

That was the day a casino opened on what many believed would be the catalyst for new development for a part of the city once known "as the most vacant neighborhood " in Columbus.

Hollywood Casino is the most significant development in west Columbus in decades.

When developers broke ground in April 2011 at the old Delphi Auto Parts plant, construction brought with it the promise of a new life to part of the city that had fallen on hard times.

“There would be big expectations when it came here that this would be the new boom of the west side,” Greg Gothard said.

Gothard has lived in west Columbus since the 1950's. He says he's watched this part of the city fall apart.

Kohl's and Target have closed. Others followed.  He says since the Casino opened the west side hasn't developed like he thought.

“There's been a million rumors and a million nothings to show for it,” he said.

Rumors like a casino hotel, more shopping along W. Broad Street and thousands of new jobs.

So why isn't the casino attracting more development? Many point to the vacant Westland Mall.

Tim Guyton is a former Franklin Township Trustee.

“Without question it is the biggest stumbling block for the west side,” he said.

Plans floated by developers years ago show a mini Easton type shopping center in its place.

The 964,000 square foot property has been on the market since it closed in 2012.

Plans to demolish or rebuild here remain a mystery.  The owner did not return our repeated calls.

“We haven't seen much growth,” Esther Kulp said.

Kulp grew up on the west side. Like many long- time residents, she says the casino hasn't transformed this part of town.

“We go to Hilliard or Grove City if we want a variety of restaurants,” she said.

Before the casino opened its doors, casino owners Penn National promised 2,000 jobs. Documents from the casino show the casino fell short of that number.

The Casino tells 10TV, full and part-time casino jobs total just over 1,000.

Granted, that's a thousand more jobs that didn't exist prior to the casino, but it's not the employment boom that was promised. That has impacted the amount of money Franklin Township receives.

According to the agreement with the city of Columbus, it agreed to pay the township a service fee that is related to income taxes. The township gets a percentage of that money.

Township trustee Don Cook says that money has fallen short of what the township thought it would get.

“Originally there was $750,000 projected a year to Franklin Township through a Columbus agreement,” he said.

That's a projected $1.5 million dollars. But numbers from the Columbus city auditor’s office paints a different story.

From 2014 to now, the township tells 10TV it has received just over $531,000.

But those projections were before the state approved gambling at what will be seven racinos which hurt casino profits, siphoned off gamblers and prevented the casino from expanding.

Others say it's the location that may be holding the casino back.

“[If] this casino would have been located downtown where it originally was supposed to go, it probably would have been doing better,” Jeff Haydocy, who heads the Weston Vision group, said.

He says the casino can only do so much. He points the finger at the township for not doing enough to promote businesses to come to this side of town.

“Shame on the trustees for not realizing that they have a great opportunity and instead of bickering let’s roll up our sleeves and figure out how we're going to get jobs out here,” he said.

Haydocy added that the west side is improving.

“It's a far better trajectory now than where we were five years ago,” he said.

He points to the apartment complex south of the casino. It was one of the largest in the city.

Before the casino, he says, vacancy was 20 percent the highest in the city.

The Romney Group--as in Mitt Romney---bought the property, demolished 600 crime ridden apartments that once sat there, and $8 million to upgrade 1,100 units.

Multiple businesses have improved their facades along W. Broad Street. Some small businesses have moved in. Layman Chevrolet built a new a new showroom and Haydocy GMC grew too.

“We opened an airstream dealership that would never have happened if not for the casino,” he said.

Then there's the Camp Chase bike trial, a 16-mile section, opening in April.

It will connect to the longest bike trial in the country potentially bringing thousands to the west side.

Still, development hasn't met a lot of the expectations people hoped for, since the cards, chips, and slots started ringing at Hollywood Casino nearly four years ago.

People are coming to the casino, but they're not staying to shop beyond the casino walls.

“When people leave the casino where are they going to get something to eat there's no place to go,” Guyton said.

Many doubt that will change unless this property is dealt with.

“The elephant in the room is Westland Mall,” Guyton said.

But with no one ready to bet millions on redeveloping it, attracting new development appears a long shot.

For people like Gothard, he thinks the odds are pretty long.

“I tend to think I'll be dead in the grave and it will still look like that,” he said.

Because Westland Mall sits in Franklin Township, not the city of Columbus, the city says it's not involved in promoting the site.

We reached out to Mayor Andrew Ginther for comment but we’re told he was not available.

Supporters of the casino say without it, tens of millions of dollars in road and freeway projects on the west side would not be completed.