I was lucky enough today to have an opportunity to take a look around the current construction site of the soon to be Hippodrome Casino in Leicester Square, London.

Many a time have I walked past this construction site and wondered what on earth was going on inside, with the front boarded up and a make shift theatre ticket booth taking its place, it seemed that no one cared enough or was brave enough to do something with this prime location real estate.

About a year ago I started noticing that activity was taking place. There was the innovative circus show called La Clique which housed a short run show here, with great success. They went on to create the new show called La Soiree currently showing at the Big Top on the Southbank. This is a cool new show, I went there a few weeks ago and it's a fabulously entertaining spin on traditional circus shows.

Anyways, back to the Hippodrome and today standing in a building site, in a room just above the main entrance, we were presented with the future vision that would eventually be the Hippodrome Casino, to be launched in August 2011.

It's fairly obvious from it's amazing location that this was going to be an incredible venue for all forms of entertainment, from stage shows, cabaret, fine dining (rumoured to be a Gordon Ramsey restaurant), through to the obligatory gaming tables of a casino.

The Hippodrome is a Grade II listed building that was originally built in 1900 for Moss Empires Limited at a cost of £250,000 by renowned Victorian theatre architect Frank Matcham. The original intention was to combine a circus, music hall and a water spectacle all in one venue, with a central circus area that could be flooded with 100,000 gallons of water. In its heyday, shows even included animals such as elephants and live polar bears!

As the venue grew up, it has had many other guises, from housing Swan Lake ballet, through to being the Talk of the Town for a couple of decades, and even a swinging 80s disco run by none other than Peter Stringfellow, starting in 1983.

Now it's latest hopes are of being a throwback 24hr casino which has an "international" appeal. What that means I'm not really sure, however from the initial site and 3D drawings, it looks promising, really promising!

There are already rumours of top billed shows planned for dates beyond the launch, with talent from golden classics such as Shirley Bassey, through to new acts like Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse.

Some of the unique key features of this casino include:

• Best table and electronic casino games from across the world, housed across four gaming floor.
• Great choice of bars and restaurant for all occasions, managed by an established US operator - The One Group
• Extensive VIP gaming and hospitality lounges
• Premier live cabaret staged in an intimate 200 seater venue
• Outdoor smoking and gaming terraces
• An Asian focused gaming floor
• An 80 seat Poker Deck
• Flexible event spaces for corporate events, weddings, private screenings and parties

One great feature will be an online casino which will compliment the offline visit. The loyalty scheme which will be put in place will allow transfer of your rewards in both virtual and real venues.

Overall, I think this is going to be a fantastic addition to the Leicester Square fraternity and I'm certainly looking forward to the launch date of this casino. Keep your eyes open on here for more information coming as we hear about it.