Preliminary plans recently were announced for a 7,000-seat entertainment center to open in 2014 at Fallsview Casino at Niagara Falls, Ontario. The new venue would host concerts by nationally and internationally known performers, as well as sports and entertainment events.
Clare Copeland, Falls Management chief executive officer, said the center would be connected to the Fallsview gaming floor. “None of the economic benefit numbers work unless the traffic flows through the casino and back out from the theater through the casino,” said Copeland.
Falls Management, which was hired by publicly owned Ontario Lottery and Gaming to manage Fallsview Casino and Casino Niagara, has long desired to build an entertainment venue to complement the existing 1,400-seat Avalon theater.
Copeland noted plans for the venue are in the preliminary stages. Next, Falls Management will continue working with major stakeholders, including local businesses, to encourage community support and to meet various provincial government regulations.
Niagara Falls Member of Provincial Parliament Kim Craitor said a new venue at Fallsview would rival the 5,000-seat entertainment centers at Caesars Windsor, Casino Rama and the Seneca Niagara Casino.
The proposed entertainment center would be expected to attract 1.15 million new visitors to the region, have an economic impact of $370 million annually, provide 2,370 construction jobs, increase hotel room nights by 7 percent and generate $115.3 million in annual revenues to government.
