october 2017 BCBusiness 63
Scott Menke bet big
on Parq Vancouver, the
city's new downtown
casino and resort. Who
is this single-minded
Las Vegas transplant,
and how did he pull it off?
Gambler
Th
O
n a brilliant late-June
afternoon, Scott Menke
strides through the posh
lobby of Va ncouver's
Rosewood Hotel Georgia.
"What's up?" asks the
co-founder and
CEO of
Paragon Gaming as he extends a hand. At †rst
glance, his aquiline gaze appears haughty,
but don't mistake the tall American's con†-
dence for condescension.
For 20-odd days a month, Menke
lives alone in this downtown hotel. Since
2006, he's divided his time between
Vancouver and Paragon's home of Las Vegas
as the company pushed to build an ambitious
destination casino and hotel project, facing
blowback from politicians, anti-gambling
activists and concerned residents. Some crit-
ics have questioned Paragon's track record.
But in the end, Menke got his way: a few
blocks south, in the shadow of BC Place sta-
dium, Parq Vancouver opens its doors on
September 29.
b y n i c k R o c k e l
p h o t o g r a p h s b y M e l a n i e D u n e a
