Gettysburg hearing tonight

[dusty27]

Link to Article

State to hear local slots proposal By RICHARD FELLINGER
Evening Sun Harrisburg Bureau
Evening Sun Article Launched:12/12/2006 09:40:44 AM EST
Gaming regulators will turn their attention to a Gettysburg-area slots plan
Wednesday as they scrutinize proposals for the state's valuable slots licenses.
Backers of the Crossroads Gaming Resort and Spa, a $300-million proposal
for the intersection of routes 30 and 15, are scheduled to appear in Harrisburg
before the state Gaming Control Board at a much-anticipated public hearing on their plan.

It's a key step in the decision-making process. The seven-member gaming board,
which hopes to award the licenses Dec. 20, gets to question the applicants in
person before reaching a final decision.

Crossroads, led by Gettysburg businessman David LeVan, hopes to win one of two
slots licenses available for standalone slots casinos outside Pittsburgh and P
hiladelphia. Crossroads has four competitors – two in the Poconos and two in the
Lehigh Valley.

Since the Crossroads plan was unveiled in April 2005, debate has raged over whether
it's a good fit for the area. While Crossroads has argued its plan would create jobs and
tax revenue, critics have argued it would hurt the historical tourism industry and
disrespect the soldiers who died there.

A spokesman for Crossroads said they are prepared to field tough questions from board
members and win them over, while a leading critic said the board should raise many
questions but won't be persuaded to give Crossroads a license.

Susan Star Paddock, chairwoman of the anti-casino group No Casino Gettysburg, expects
board members to focus on Crossroads' financial backing after the group enlisted a new
top investor last month. Connecticut investment firm Silver Point Capital LP replaced
Morgan Stanley as the plan's largest investor.

"I expect there will be considerable questions about their finances," said Star Paddock,
who regularly attends board meetings.

Crossroads spokesman David La Torre said Silver Point will draw questions but "no more
than any other applicant."

"I think every applicant has faced questions about ownership (at their hearing)," La Torre said.

Star Paddock also expects board members to raise questions about the impact on
traffic and local businesses.

Responded La Torre, "Let's be clear: Every applicant should expect tough questions.
The Gaming Control Board has a very tough job to do, and they would be remiss if
they didn't ask tough questions. We will certainly put our best foot forward in both areas."

In Crossroads' case, it's also possible the area's history draws even more pointed questions.

Gaming board member Jeffrey Coy of Shippensburg is known to be a Civil War buff,
as is House Democratic Leader Bill DeWeese, D-Greene, who appointed Coy to the board.

In a 2005 interview, DeWeese promised "very aggressive scrutiny" of the Crossroads plan.
While one Poconos competitor changed its plans dramatically when it went before the
gaming board last week, Crossroads will not unveil any major changes to its plan, La Torre said.

The proposed Mount Airy Resort & Casino in Monroe County promised to open with
400 hotel rooms, up from 200, in an apparent attempt to compete with the Poconos
Manor Resort & Casino, also proposed in Monroe. Poconos Manor has proposed a massive
complex with 750 hotel rooms.

By sticking with its original plan, Crossroads can open sooner with a complex that is
"simple yet remarkable in its design and beauty," La Torre said.

Crossroads would open with 3,000 slot machines and 225 rooms in a four-star hotel,
a 30,000-square-foot spa and several restaurants. They plan to expand later with
2,000 more machines and 110 more rooms.

Crossroads will be the second plan to go before the board Wednesday, which means
the board expects to take it up between 1 and 2 p.m. In the morning, the proposed
Lehigh Valley Tropicana in Allentown goes before the board. Both Poconos plans
and the proposed Sands Bethworks in Bethlehem went before the board last week.

IF YOU GO:
When: Wednesday, estimated start time 1 to 2 p.m.
Where: State Museum Auditorium, 3rd and North streets, Harrisburg

[CJDaley]

Thanks for posting that Dusty.

Slot hearings earlier in the week for slots in and around Philadelphia resulted in a few arrests. Apparently protesters weren't welcomed at those hearings!

If you can't get to Harrisburg, but live in PA, the hearings will be broadcast on the local news channels. I'm suire it'll be online someplace.

Thanks to all those who've supported the anit casino effort. Today is D-Day and we'll know next Wednesday if Gettysburg will be preserved or pawned.

[jfeagin]

Here is more from the meeting today... Looks like it went peacefully. I tell ya I bet if that casino goes in Gettysburg Park Watch will be a heck of a lot busier... and not with ghost hunters...

From the Evening Sun.

Supporters and critics turned out in force today for a public hearing on a Gettysburg-area slots plan before the state Gaming Control Board.

The board was hoping to begin hearing testimony by mid-afternoon on the Crossroads Gaming Resort & Spa, proposed at routes 30 and 15 by a group of investors led by Gettysburg businessman David LeVan.

By late morning, a few dozen opponents crowded into the Harrisburg office of Preservation Pennsylvania, which is just down the block from the hearing site at the State Museum auditorium. Some belong to the local group No Casino Gettysburg while others belong to historic preservation groups.

They planned to walk in unison to the hearing this afternoon and were distributing T-Shirts that read, "Stop The Slots, Don't Gamble With Gettysburg."

"(Crossroads) has drawn so much opposition from so many people that we thought this was a way to have a rallying point," said one critic, Mary Goundrey of the Civil War Preservation Trust.

For their part, two busloads of casino backers arrived at the State Museum shortly after noon. Many belong to the local grass-roots group Pro Casino Adams County and some have union affiliations.

They wore their own T-Shirts for the event, reading "Pro Casino."

"We're just here in silent support. We represent the silent majority of citizens from Adams County who are behind this project," said Debbie Golden, a Pro Casino member from Cumberland Township, Adams County.

The public hearing gives gaming board members a chance to question Crossroads officials in person before making a final decision on who gets slots licenses.

The seven-member board hopes to award licenses Dec. 20, and Crossroads is one of five groups seeking two licenses for a standalone slots parlor outside of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

This morning, the gaming board held a public hearing one of Crossroads' competitors, the Lehigh Valley Tropicana proposed in Allentown. Two competitors from the Poconos and one from Bethlehem went before the board last week.

[BenjaminLDavis]

The only sure bet here is that the brave men who gave their lives on this battlefield and lay
neath the sod are spinning furiously in their graves - I am a current Union steward where I
work and I think it a damn shame that organized labor can be behind a historical travesty
of this magnitude. A casino can be built anywhere! It does not have to be built on sacred
ground.
Done venting.

[GrumpyDave]

I watched on PCN last evening our local cable access chanel. I vote for the guy that was pitching the one near Allentown, he was good, really good. Unfortunatly, I think the commission will vote for the places where they think they can generate the most tax dollars for the state. Now all we can do is hope.

[CJDaley]

The local news last night seemed to be interviewing more anit casino people, but that may be because they were looking for some controversy.

Check out this poll: http://www.wgal.com/news/10523867/detail.html

[Dignann]

Lots of coverage in today's Hanover Evening Sun.

• "Investors Make Case for Casino"
  
• "300 Crowd G'burg Casino Hearing"
  
• "Crossroads Investors Fined for Contributions"
  
• "Preservationists Angry at LeVan's Claim of Support"

Eric