urbanSTL

I don't like the Ameristar design. In fact, if you want to talk about how something fits into its surroundings, this is a horrible proposal for a great neighborhood. The city of St Charles is losing big time in letting them build this faux historic tower next to an authentic historic neighborhood.



The Pinnacle looks okay. I'm hoping the density of the BD will overshadow its unimpressiveness. I don't hate it, but it could be better. I don't have a problem at all with this construction going in across from the BD, and it's really away from the Landing.

The Ameristar design is hideously tacky! "Looking like Vegas" is the LAST thing we want in historic St. Charles!

And looking like crap (Pinnacle) is the last thing we want in downtown St. Louis!!! Seriously, the St. Chuck casino is farther away from historic st. chuck that the Pinnacle is from the historic landing.

What are you talking about, we already have TONS of crap in Downtown St. Louis!



In all seriousness, your opinions are very different from mine. I don't think the new Pinnacle looks like crap, I think it looks okay. Whereas I do think the Ameristar does look like crap, and the size of the building makes it bear down on downtown St. Charles. Really, couldn't they have put a little effort into the building?

trent wrote:What are you talking about, we already have TONS of crap in Downtown St. Louis!



In all seriousness, your opinions are very different from mine. I don't think the new Pinnacle looks like crap, I think it looks okay. Whereas I do think the Ameristar does look like crap, and the size of the building makes it bear down on downtown St. Charles. Really, couldn't they have put a little effort into the building?

100% agree....100%

Aside from the architecture, maybe the addition of so many new conference/convention center hotels will raise all boats? Not so long ago, just about the only place for a convention in Missouri was Tan-Tar-A or the Lodge of the Four Seasons. Many great options now exist in KC and St. Louis.



If the Ameristar is within easy walking distance of the historic district (I seem to recall some barriers), it may be a hit.

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I still don't know what I think of this rendering, I finally just saw it last night..



It kinda reminds me of wanting to be "Vegas-style" like someone mentioned. Maybe like a wannabe Venetian or one of the Caesar's Palace towers.



I'll have to think about this one for awhile!

When we voted for riverboat gambling years ago, I think the public envisioned a pituresque old riverboat goin' down the river with a banjo player on the front and people inside playin' card games and a few slot machines. The boats would draw tourists downtown, but the sleeze factor would stay on the boat and out of view.



Now we have these monstrosities -- barely floating -- they don't move on the river at all. I guess if they have floated in the past, they are legal. Now they can be in a "moat" close to a river. (I'm thinking of putting a slot machine floating in my bath tub -- the water comes from the Missouri.)



And instead of downtown, the casino's quickly jumped to river sites in St. Charles, where we didn't really need to sell our soul for revitalization.



Any thought of implementing the original small wager gambling boat that actually goes up and down the river like a boat would never be able to compete with these "Let's pretend its Las Vegas" style money vacuums.



I've only gone in the casinos a few times, and I didn't see the captains of industry in there risking throw away money. It looked more like people who need a real savings plan. There should be some rule that if you lose X amount of money, you get Y shares of hotel stock for the hotel you built.

Casinos gambling really only works on a large scale. Small riverboats, while quaint, would fail, just like the "old west" style casinos in Central City, Colorado.

Gary Kreie wrote:Now we have these monstrosities -- barely floating -- they don't move on the river at all. I guess if they have floated in the past, they are legal.



And instead of downtown, the casino's quickly jumped to river sites in St. Charles, where we didn't really need to sell our soul for revitalization.



There should be some rule that if you lose X amount of money, you get Y shares of hotel stock for the hotel you built.

Gary I totally agree!



Harrah's built a "moat" to make sure they were on the river...Is it right? I don't necessarily know, but evidently MO thinks its a-OK as long as it brings in lots of $$$ for Maryland Heights. If I were the mayor and knew that Harrahs wasn't technically on the river, would I complain? Hell no!



As for the losing X amount of money in Y amount of hours, I hear that Missouri is looking to repeal that law...I don't think Illinois has a law like that, and I'm thinking MO wants to follow suit.



Hey gamblers in Boonville, good news for all of you who at the Isle of Capri casino who wants to lose $1,000 in one day!

I like to see anything tall built, especially in St. Charles, but the tower really looks like one fat SOB.

Wow! I took a trip out Highway 70 today, and the new tower sure makes an impression. It's the biggest thing for miles.

Gary Kreie wrote:I've only gone in the casinos a few times, and I didn't see the captains of industry in there risking throw away money. It looked more like people who need a real savings plan.

Not to mention clean clothes and a new set of teeth.

I really like the ameristar. Especially amerisports. It's one of the only true sports bars in the metro.

I'm not sure I get the Branson reference, but I think the larger our casino industry gets the better. I'm not a huge fan of gambling and I know it can really F up your life, but if the casinos bring more people to town I think it's great.

I haven't been to Ameristar, so I really can't comment on it one way or another. I have to believe that the constant stream of new and improved casinos in the area is a zero-sum game in the end- one will simply continue to steal gamblers away from the other. Keep in mind that Pinnacle's Lumiere Place will open late this year, and their River City Casino in Lemay will open in late 2008 or early 2009.



I'm merely speculating, and my opinion is barely worth two cents, but I think expansion of Ameristar and the two new Pinnacle casinos would spell trouble for the Argosy Casino in Alton and the Harrah's complex in Maryland Heights.

^Well, if nothing else, the local construction trades are getting lots of work.

I was on my way to St. Charles West High School for a coaching clinic, and this thing just sticks out like a sore thumb. Driving on the Page Extension, its almost funny how it stands out.

I like the randomness of a tower poking out of no where. The tower will also have a friend once the Noah's Arc property is redeveloped.

Its a casino-- in the midwest. What were you expecting?

Doug wrote:I had lunch at the Ameristar. The tower is gross even up close, whereas the interior is cheap and lacking class. Brick veneer looks like plastic, flooring is generic, and the overall impression is very well pathetic. I hope Pinnacle is better.

I have a brother in law hanging drywall down there: he said everything is top of the line. Expensive thick sound deadening sheetrock that's heavy as hell and tough to work with but great for quality. He claimed the specs for paints, electrical and plumbing etc are all high end.