Since the renovation of the main building is taking roughly the same amount of time as the Pleistocene Era, The Powers That Be decided to bring in a little revenue by opening a mini-casino on the ground floor of their parking garage. And unlike its big sister to the east, this casino is actually making visible progress. Not that it’s without its problems, though. This article said it would open in July, 2002. Then this October article mentions an extension until March of this year. Whoops! How do you spell slipping deadlines?

Also notice that both articles repeat the “mid-2003” date for re-opening of the Ormsby House itself. Try 2004, fellas.

Here you can see how they’ve shoehorned the Winchester Club into the unused corner of the parking garage. Also on the third floor, above the entrance, you can see how they’ve knocked out the guardrail to prepare for the sky bridge that’s going to connect to the casino. The FakeRock™ elevator shaft refuses to give way, though. It’s as solid as ever.

Doors and windows have been installed. The rusty cylinders with graffiti on them are support pillars for the future sky bridge.

Apparently they’re going for the Suburban Garage Door look. I think they’ve got it nailed.

A couple of peeks inside the window shows that they still have a long way to go.

 

“But Scott,” you ask eagerly, “what about the main bulding? Surely they’ve done something in the last four months!”

Oh, how I wish that were true. I drive by the Ormsby House every day, looking for some kind of change, some visible sign of progress, some indication that there’s human life inside the empty shell. But there’s nothing. Nothing changes, no sign that the casino is anything more than an abandoned building. Chronicling the Ormsby renovation has got to be the easiest job ever.

For you see, nobody ever goes in. And nobody ever comes out!