What happened to the 'Super Casino' license which Pearson helped pitch for when he was the City chairman ? The pitch was successful and Hull was one of only ten ( could have been less) places to be granted one in the entire country. Have we got one ? Have we ****.
We didn't even make the shortlist for one of the super casino licenses. He got an ordinary casino license, but then pretty much anyone can apply for one of them.
And the government ****ed them off before anything got actually built. Not the Blair government's finest hour.
Thanks for the update - really appreciate it. Are the Rockies & the canyon still there? Loved them as a kid
Yes the rockies are still there, even that bit at the top that everyone pisses in. The only difference is there is now a sign that says NO CLIMBING to cover the councils backsides. The thing is, when we was kids, the rockies seemed literally like the grand canyon, walking through them as an adult, the reality is they are about 10/12ft high at the most...a bit dissappointing really, I had memories of being Bonnington climing Everest.....
Are you sure ? I thought Hull's bid was successful. Doesn't matter anyway because like a lot of the grand plans for this city it never got off the drawing board. Interesting news today that Manor Properties have put five of their sites in Hull up for sale. Five sites they bought and sat on for donkeys years waiting for property values to go up. Coincidental that they are five of the worst eyesores in the city.
It's two sites as far as I'm aware, the old Heaven and Hell and the old Co-op and they've actually both been up for sale for years already, Akrill was just having a rant last night. His only other buildings in Hull are Clarence Mill (which he's just demolished) and the Lord Line site (which he's just half demolished) and neither of these are up for sale.
Wikipedia....FWIW In May 2006, a short-list of eight sites, selected from various ones submitted by local councils, was announced for the location of the regional casino. These were: Wembley Stadium, Brent, London (which removed itself from consideration prior to the decision being made) The O2, Greenwich, London Cardiff Blackpool Eastlands, Manchester Newcastle Bramall Lane, East End (Don Valley Stadium) or Meadowhall Centre, Sheffield Glasgow Many sites were put forward; including Ibrox Park Sites rejected at this shortlisting phase included: Chesterfield Coventry Dartford Dudley Great Yarmouth Havering Kingston-upon-Hull Ipswich Leeds Middlesbrough Midlothian Newport Solihull (National Exhibition Centre site) Southampton Southend-on-Sea Sunderland Thurrock Wakefield West Dunbartonshire
Dave Burns got it wrong today then because I heard him say on his morning show that you had tweeted him with the news ?
I only tweeted him to tell him that he'd got his story about them selling Edwin Davis wrong, it's not even owned by Manor.
The demolition team that did the Lord Line work are going to the Mill site next apparently, I think they're on there next week.
Hull was eventually awarded a smaller casino licence, and there were original plans to put it into the new buiding development at the Rank Hovis site near Drypool bridge. However there were never any takers as Hull already has two smaller casinos, and the demand did not seem to be there. Napoleons spend a few hundred grand refurbishing their existing site, and since the demolition of the old registry office, it is now a stand alone building quite striking with unobscured views of it from all sides. The plans for the Rank Hovis site are now student digs and a Radison Blu hotel. Anyone whos not been in Napoleons have a virtual tour here http://www.napoleons-casinos.co.uk/hull/our-restaurant/virtual-tour/
Coming across as a bit of a gambler here, but I bet you I aren't.....the machines in Napoleans have a £4000 jackpot. I am not on commission, other casinos are available, like Stakis in George street, now Gala casinos....and there lies a funny story.... A few years ago I was a paid mystery shopper. One assignment I got was Stakis casino on George Street. My "mission" was to go in, pretend never to have been in a casino and report back on the experience. I would be refunded a maximum of £40 ish, and got paid £40 on top. One stipulation was I had to spend a minimum of three hours in the venue to assess different areas. With the guided tour and free new customer welcome drinks it made for a free night out.....or so I thought. After a couple of hours of moving from table to table checking stuff out, I starting playing three carded poker. As soon as I sat down, the bloke to my left started winning big, and he reckoned it was due to the change of cards with a new player being seated disrupting them (a load of crap). Anyway, he won hundreds if not thousands, and kept getting everyone on the table rounds of drinks....... The outcome was, about 5AM when I left the casino to bright sunlight (it was summer), absolutely wasted, it suddenly dawned on me that I had spend about £300 quid, forgotten everything I needed for my report, and would only be refunded £40. Twas the end of my mystery shopping career......
Yes it was a good night looking back.....I filled the forms in for the company I was working for, and thought **** it, i'll put the truth down...was there from around 9PM till 5AM and spent £300. After submitting it (online) a frantic young girl rang and said, "you do realise you didnt have to stay till it closed, and we can only refund £40"....i explained the situation and we had a good laugh........then she probably put the phone down and said....dickhead!
