
The Wildside: In need of a new name for its facelift
Last Thursday, the state gaming board awarded the last resort casino license to Nemacolin Woodlands, a short drive south of Pittsburgh, making way for up to 600 slot machines and 50 table games.
For those unfamiliar, Nemacolin is pretty much the center of opulence in Fayette County, and houses a five diamond French restaurant that I felt poor just walking past, not to mention the polo fields, immense art collection, cigar bar and various other attractions that will empty your wallet, although not as fast as the soon to be renovated Wildside.
The Wildside, which, presumably is where Joe Hardy will put in the new casino was originally built (and more importantly, wired) to be a casino. It sits on Route 40, easy to access, with plenty of parking. Inside you’ll find a bar, pool tables, a restaurant, climbing walls, exotic bird enclosure, arcade, bowling alley and a giant model train. The building was first a sporting and outdoor goods store, which has since relocated to downtown Uniontown, so it appears that in the end, everything comes full circle.
However, the name announced is pretty awful: Lady Luck Nemacolin. This is a world-class resort that resides on Lafeyette Drive, has a restaurant named Laurtec and one (of two) golf courses named Mystic Rock. The best they could come up with is “Lady Luck Nemacolin?” Where is the glamor and excitement in a name like that?
I did a straw poll at work and it was unanimous: the name stinks. Here’s hoping that they come up with something more grand, and soon.
The strangest thing about all of this: there is no mention of the awarding of the casino license on the Nemacolin website. Some of the neighbors still think they will run into a few snags along the way, but to an outsider, it seems like a done deal. Let’s hope Route 40 will get a few turning lanes (and better upkeep in the winter)!