A new casino revives spirit of old building

MotorCity opening is expected tonight

December 14, 1999

BY TINA LAM

FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

It isn't exactly the sort of use the Wagner family might have envisioned for its old bread bakery.

But as the red brick building completes its metamorphosis today from bakery to casino, one descendant said he hopes it succeeds.

"I'm not a gambler, and I'm a little apprehensive about what will happen, but I think it can be a good source of income for the city," said Steve Case, the great-grandson of one of the brothers who built the building. "I've watched the transformation. I'm pleased the building is being saved."

The former Wonder Bread bakery, empty for the last 14 years, is expected to reopen as the MotorCity Casino today, part of a new era in Detroit, after the Michigan Gaming Control Board votes whether to

license its owner, Detroit Entertainment L.L.C.

Gamblers are expected to pack the casino for an early evening opening. "I want to be there when it opens," said Detroiter Dora Lindsay, 60, who plans to stand in line as she did in July for the opening of the MGM

Grand Detroit. "It's going to be gorgeous."

Case, 56, a nursing home administrator from Novi, said he's not a gambler but hopes to tour the refurbished bakery some day.

His great-grandfather, Christopher Wagner, is one of four brothers who built the brick-and-stone building for $300,000 in 1915. It was their second plant in Detroit, and said to be the most modern in the Midwest.

Christopher Wagner became a wealthy man due to the success of the baking company the brothers founded in 1869. He bought a new Cadillac touring car every year and owned a cottage on Cass Lake. When he died

around 1920, his estate was worth $1 million, said Case.

Wagner Baking began making its most famous product, Wonder Bread, sometime after 1921. Wonder became a national brand, and despite various mergers, was made at the plant until it closed July 20, 1985. At the time, the average wage there was $9.76 to $10.20 per hour, more than the hourly wage casino workers will earn.

Case said his mother always pointed proudly to the building, even though the area around it went downhill. She died in 1996. "I don't think she'd be too happy about a casino there," Case said. "But my great- grandfather had an entrepreneurial spirit, and I think he'd look on it as a good opportunity for the city."

The white name plate with the Wagner company name at the top of the building has survived the century, brightly lit at night next to the neon MotorCity sign. There's also an ornate medallion over one door bearing the Wagner name.

"We kept those because we think that really lets people know that the history of Detroit is important to us," said Jack Barthwell, spokesman for MotorCity.

Barthwell said making over the 4-story Wonder Bread plant took a lot of work and a lot of money -- at least $160 million.

"It's an exercise in what you have to do to do urban redevelopment," he said.

The MotorCity Casino is actually three buildings. Besides the old Wagner Baking Co., a restaurant pavilion was created out of the former Continental Baking building next door, which had been a warehouse and thrift shop. MotorCity bought land behind the Wagner building for a huge new parking structure and is paying to relocate residents.

MotorCity gutted the inside of the brick buildings, re-poured floors and put in new plumbing, heating, air-conditioning and mechanical systems. "It's a new building in the old shell," Barthwell said. The casino's computerized systems, particularly a new system that tracks how much gamblers spend and play, are the most advanced of any casino in the country, he said.

Whether gamblers will flock to the new jewel in a decayed neighborhood has yet to be seen.

Case said he hopes it helps the city. He once opposed gambling but no longer does. "We all have to change," he said. "We have to try something different."

TINA LAM can be reached at

313-223-4407.

No wait for MotorCity gamblers

But they cite one problem: Faulty slots

December 16, 1999

BY TINA LAM FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

The gamblers who packed MotorCity Casino on its first full day were surprised to find there was no line to get inside.

"We got right in, no waiting," said Sylvester Wilson of Detroit, who with his wife Yvette was touring the casino Wednesday.

Tuesday evening, the casino set up a heated tent, had a live band and handed out bottles of water to the crowd of several hundred that gathered to await its opening. But none of that was necessary Wednesday.

"Everything went very smoothly," said David Belding, executive vice president of Mandalay Resort Group, the Las Vegas company that owns just over half of the casino. "The crowds are greater than we expected and business is very strong, very strong," he said.

Casino officials did not release attendance figures.

Customers complained about glitches with some slot machines, saying some were out of service, didn't pay properly or didn't accept their bills. On Wednesday, "out of service" cards sat on many machines.

Belding said some machines did malfunction and the problems should be fixed soon . "No matter how much training people have, these are mechanical devices, and it takes time to get all the bugs out," he said. Many machines are not new but reconditioned.

Catherine Ashley-Foster, a supervisor at the Laurel Manor banquet facility in Livonia, noticed machines were down, but said such problems are to be expected in a new casino. "I think it's gorgeous," she said.

Gerald Thompson, a retired bar owner from Ann Arbor, went to MGM Grand on its opening day last July, and he said some dealers couldn't count correctly. On Wednesday, he spent four hours playing blackjack and pronounced MotorCity a winner. He said automatic shuffling machines kept the game moving, without having to stop and change decks, and the dealers seemed good.

"This is my new favorite," Thompson said.

Chuck Linder is visiting his sister in metro Detroit from Alabama, where he often gambles at casinos in Mississippi. He was impressed with MotorCity Wednesday.

But Willie Miller of Detroit wasn't so happy. She said she found a lot of machines that didn't work and was confused by the casino's layout, with gambling on four floors and restaurants in a separate building. "I don't like this one," she said.

A few blocks away, MGM Grand looked quieter than it has on recent weekdays, with banks of empty slot machines. A spokesman said business Wednesday was about the same as a week ago. Across the river, Casino Windsor spokesman Jim Mundy said December is always slow until Christmas, so it's hard to tell what effect MotorCity's opening had there. "It's too early to say," he said.

TINA LAM can be reached at 313-223-4407 and by e-mail at lam@freepress.com.

Old Wonder bread factory may house interim casino

May 4, 1998

One of the three groups planning for casinos in Detroit is looking at the old Wonder bread plant near downtown for its temporary casino.

People involved in the casino process say Atwater/Circus Circus officials have been considering turning the old bread factory at the Lodge Freeway and Grand River into a casino that would open when the group gets a state license and close when its permanent casino opens on the east riverfront, in 2001 or 2002.

On Sunday, Atwater spokesman Tom Shields would not confirm the group's interest in the site. "We have not made any decision," he said. "We continue to look, and we're optimistic we'll find a location."

The Greektown/Chippewa Indians group plans to open a temporary casino in Trappers Alley on Monroe. The third group, MGM Grand, has been widely reported to be considering a former IRS building on the Lodge service drive, but the group's officials have refused to comment.

Given the expected length of the state licensing investigation, officials do not expect temporary casinos to open until early next year.

By Bill McGraw