Saturday, March 1, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
Charles Costa, who never got more than 4 percent of the vote when he ran for mayor in 1985, 1989 and 1993, is working with Navegante Group, which operates a $160 million temporary casino in Niagara Falls, Canada.
Costa and Larry Woolf, president and owner of Navegante, made a presentation to the mayor's task force on casino gaming Thursday.
"We are going to join with Mr. Costa and his concept to bring entertainment to the city, and mix that with gaming," Woolf said. "We want lots of local people involved. We're not big guys; we want to do things in Detroit and leave the money there."
Woolf said the group intends to sell shares in the venture to Detroit residents.
Woolf is the former chairman and chief executive officer of MGM Grand Inc. His new company opened the Niagara casino, which spans four floors overlooking the falls. The temporary casino, located 100 yards from the U.S. border, takes in about $800,000 a day, according to reports from the Ontario Casino Corp. It has attracted an average of 18,400 people daily since it opened Dec. 9.
Pat Cruzen, formerly president of Grand Casinos, which developed Indian casinos in several states, is also involved in the Detroit plan, Woolf said.
Ten groups have said publicly that they are interested in bidding for Detroit's three casino licenses.
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