"The Seneca Nation of Indians is proceeding with a plan to build a $130 million casino in downtown Buffalo, even as opposition groups note that the legality of the gambling operation remains under scrutiny in federal court. Outgoing Seneca Nation President Robert Odawi Porter sat down with The News’ Brian Meyer to discuss the project and other issues in the weekly “In Focus” interview series.
Here is a summary of some of the issues discussed. Watch the eight-minute interview at www.buffalonews.com/video.
Meyer: [The proposed downtown] casino is a scaled-down casino. Some critics say this is not going to be the magnet for tourists.
Porter: It’s going to be the right size facility for the location. The economy dealt us a blow from the original plan. What we have now is a facility that was designed in a collaborative manner with our neighbors. We worked not just with the city but with surrounding businesses to make sure that this particular design of the casino maximized traffic flow and integration with what’s going on in the waterfront.
Meyer: At what point do we say there’s saturation? At what point do we say there are too many casinos?
Porter: The gaming corporation of our nation wouldn’t be building this if it weren’t an economic opportunity there. But it’s the right-sized economic opportunity."
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In Focus: Outgoing Seneca Nation President Robert Odawi Porter (The Buffalo News 10/24)
In Focus: Outgoing Seneca Nation President Robert Odawi Porter (The Buffalo News 10/24)
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