NAKED CITY: LAS VEGAS GLITZ FOR BARANGAROO!
With Barry O’Farrell’s glowing endorsement of Jamie Packer’s plans to build a 35 storey hotel and casino on the Barangaroo site, Sydney is set to become one of the world’s leading casino cities. Come on, forget about the scandals that have currently plagued the Star Casino and think back to the bad old days when the only gambling dens in Sydney were run by colourful racing identities and Kings Cross gangsters.
Sure you could gamble to your hearts content in less than salubrious back rooms hidden away in the mean streets of Potts Point or the Sydney CBD, but where was the glamour, where was the glitz and where was Wayne Newton? Call us old fashioned if you like, but when we think of casinos only one city really comes to mind – Las Vegas!
There’s something horribly antiseptic and oh-so-shopping mall about the new revamped casino at Pyrmont and Packer’s soaring high rollers tower at Barangaroo appears to be totally neon free. If we are going to embrace the casino culture why not go all the way and build our own version of Sin City USA, complete with signage that can be seen from outer space and the kind of celebrity entertainment for which the famous strip is world famous. Many years ago, when he was not yet Mr Vegas, the multi-talented Wayne Newton came to Australia to play the old Chevron Hilton Hotel in Potts Point. With the lure of his own multi jacuzzi penthouse at Barangaroo and generous tax concessions from the State Government we are sure Wayne could be enticed back to town. With Celine Dion, Elton John and even a reborn Siegfried and Roy appearing nightly, punters would flock to Sydney from all over the world to be dazzled by the stars and do their hard earned cash on the slots.
To avoid another unfortunate tiger attack, like the one that occurred at the Mirage Hotel in 2003, Siegfreid and Roy could be persuaded to adopt an all Australian circus of local fauna for their nightly extravaganza. As highly talented animal trainers they would have no trouble coaxing a wombat to jump through a flaming hoop or a kangaroo to juggle a set of priceless Ming Dynasty vases.
Once Packer got a toehold on Barangaroo it would only be a matter of time before the rest of the development was snapped up by the big names like Bellagio, Circus Circus and Harrah’s. Who needs a bunch of boring office buildings when you could have a recreation of Venice and its famous canals, stretching the length of the old Hungry Mile. Even Clover Moore would come on board as the very green gondolas became the chosen mode of commuter transport and bike paths right across the city were dug up to provide a network of scenic and romantic waterways. And don’t tell us that a slghtly smaller facsimile of the Statue Of Liberty would not look a million dollars positioned strategically right on the point of Barangaroo.
Wow – we can see it now, as Wayne is handed the golden keys to his 35th storey penthouse by Premier O’Farrell, they both join in a spontaneous version of Newton’s timeless signature song Danke Schoen. “Danke Schoen, East Darling Harbour, Danke Schoen.”
Anybody for a gondola ride down to Chinatown?
