176837071
South Philly’s Stella Maris and Packer Park neighborhoods, and in particular the Sports Complex Special Services District (SCSSD), are in the eye of this storm. The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) has awarded its fifth and final Category 2 license (up to 5,000 slot machines and 250 table games) to Stadium Casino, LLP, a joint venture between Greenwood Gaming & Entertainment, LP and the Cordish Companies. The former operates Parx Casino and the latter Maryland LIVE! Casino near Annapolis, Md., as well as the Xfinity Live! Philadelphia entertainment complex, 1100 Pattison Ave. The casino’s address will be 900 Packer Ave.
The license is the 13th with 12 casinos in operation: six Category 1 licenses for horse racetracks, four Category 2 licenses for stand-alone casinos and two Category 3 casinos located in existing resorts in operation. The four Category 2 licenses are running in Bensalem (Parx Casino), King of Prussia (Valley Forge Casino), Chester (Harrah’s) and of course Fishtown (SugarHouse). The license comes “under the Pennsylvania Race Horse Development and Gaming Act, which further stipulated that this facility must be located in Philadelphia,” according to a PGCB release.
Three bids failed, two in Center City and another in South Philly down the street: Bart Blatstein’s Tower Entertainment proposed The Provence at 400 N. Broad St.; Market East Associates’ Market8 Casino at Eighth and Market streets; and PHL Local Gaming LLC, which proposed Casino Revolution at 3333 S. Front St.
“This was a challenging decision involving four substantial proposals, but in the end we all felt that the Stadium Casino project best fit the intent of the Gaming Act and was best overall for Pennsylvania,” PGCB Chariman William H. Ryan, Jr. said.
The decision was unanimous, with seven board members voting for the Packer Avenue location at a Pennsylvania Convention Center-situated special meeting Tuesday afternoon. The Wednesday prior witnessed a packed Stella Maris basement at South Ninth and Bigler streets with a resounding chorus of opposition to the rumor that the license was likely going to Live!
“The meeting’s sign-in sheets reflect the following: total who did sign in was 679, with 90 percent opposed to local casino, 8 percent for a local casino and 2 percent blank,” wrote Barbara Capozzi, the Director of District II for the SCSSD, who led the meeting.
“A casino so close to what is already the organized chaos of multiple entertainment venues, so close to a beautiful Mastery elementary and middle school campus, so close to a church and rectory, so close to many, many seniors homes, will be a deplorable burden on too many just so that an already wealthy few can make more money,” she added.
There was a lot of booing, and a handful of different perspectives were offered when the floor was opened up for comment. Many feel that City leadership hasn’t stepped in to help their cries of discontent be heard. But 2nd District Councilman Kenyatta Johnson issued a statement that contradicts some outrage and hints that all the outcry is too little, too late.
“Last week’s meeting at Stella Marris was the first community meeting in the over two-year process which sent the message that there are some grave concerns about the project. I want to highlight that neither I nor any other elected official were invited to that meeting. Furthermore, the organizers of the meeting, the Community Directors of the Sports Complex Special Services District, failed to follow the formal process of opposition by filing a petition to intervene by December 31, 2013.”
Mayor Michael A. Nutter is clearly seeing dollar signs.
“We support the decision by the Gaming Control Board to award the second Category 2 License for Philadelphia to the Live! Hotel and Casino proposal in South Philadelphia,” he said in a statement. “This $425-million project will generate thousands of much-needed construction jobs and permanent jobs in Philadelphia … adding to the more than $8.5 billion in construction activity that has taken place since January ’13.”
To be sure, a great deal of Philadelphians don’t think a second casino is useful at all, and some point to Atlantic City as a cautionary tale.
“The Board is aware of the circumstances in Atlantic City…Pennsylvania is a different market,” Doug Harbach, the PGCB’s Communications Director Communications Director, said.
At the Stella Maris meeting, a common refrain was that the overflow of stadium events already negatively affects neighboring residences, and that a casino would attract a new and especially depraved clientele to a space that is two blocks from a school.
“Civics 101 – NIMBY: Not in my backyard,” Capozzi explained at the beginning of the meeting. “The point we made in this case is NIMBY times a million. We have an awful lot in our backyard and we’ve made that point clearly.”
Folks who’ve been in the neighborhood for a generation feel especially angered.
“I moved here in 1955, and this was a dump. It was called ‘The Dumps,’” Pat Gariffo explained. “Now, we’re still being dumped on, OK? Where are our representatives? Get your butts over here – this is not The Dumps anymore.”
Richard DeMarco, a resident from SCSSD District I, got things riled up when he asked “You mentioned a legal action plan, and I’d like to hear more about that. This District is very well-funded. Why were there interveners that filed a petition to intervene against the Blatstein casino – a Friends Select School and [church] filed an appeal. This district did not – this is too little too late.”
“Richie made a really good point,” John Dougherty, Business Manager for IBEW Local 98, said. “You didn’t follow the intervention process.”
That riled the crowd up to its apex of excitement, and he was booed louder than anyone previously.
“Thank you, Mr. Dougherty, for being here, but under no circumstances did I imply that I was your enemy. Please do not imply that I am an enemy of the Union. Please do not imply to our neighbors that we failed to do our job. We are volunteers,” Cappozi responded. “I’m sorry that you think that we did not do enough.”
A resident of the 3100 block of South 13th Street got up to beat in the point about the casino being near a school, and listed whom he believes will be frequenting the location: “Prostitutes, drunks, drug addicts, muggers, rapists, you name it,” he said, and “pedophiles” was screamed by another attendee.
“This is creating good jobs,” John Mannuella from the IATSE Local 8 Stagehands and a resident of the 2800 block of South Camac Street, said, drawing boos.
“Hit the bricks!” yelled an attendee.
Prior to commencing operations, a $50-million license fee must be paid to the state, and an additional $24.75-million fee for a Table Games certification. Nutter also said it will create “two to three thousand construction jobs, 1,500 permanent jobs, $16.5 million in anticipated tax revenue to the city and the School District actually gets money as a result of gaming in Philadelphia as well.”
Staff Writer Bill Chenevert at bchenevert@southphillyreview.com or ext. 117.
176849411
176849411
176849301
