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Caesars opened a temporary casino in Danville in May in a giant air-conditioned tent. Upbeat music and the faint smell of cigarettes fill the air (yes, indoor smoking is allowed) as visitors try their luck on rows of brightly colored slot machine screens. Even on a weekday afternoon, the place is busy, with a parking lot full of cars — many of them sporting North Carolina plates.
While casinos appear to have support in the Senate, the plan could prove a harder sell in the House. Speaker Tim Moore says his party will caucus on the issue and see if there’s enough GOP support to move the legislation forward. And House Democratic Leader Robert Reives says he’s concerned by efforts to tie it to the state budget without much deliberation.
“And so we're trying very intentionally, to use the funds to help rebuild our economy so that we don't have to rely on something like a casino to give people economic opportunity and a reason to live in our community,” Larking said.
The legislation under consideration requires casino operators to spend a minimum amount at four sites across the state. The likely locations include Rockingham, Nash and Anson counties, and a site in southeastern North Carolina. But draft legislation opens the door to alternative sites in Caswell, Vance, Wilson and Warren counties. The southeastern site would be operated by the Lumbee Tribe, while a private company would get a state contract for the others.
Meanwhile, across the state line in Danville, the temporary casino has already generated more than $2 million in two months for the city. Including revenues to the state, the total has already passed $30 million.
Cordish and its subsidiaries have registered eight lobbyists in North Carolina this year, including Gov. Roy Cooper’s former Commerce Secretary, Tony Copeland, and former state Republican Party chairman Tom Fetzer.
“As a former pastor seeing people with different addiction problems, whether it be drugs or whether it be gambling, those are incredible hardships that families undergo,” Walker said. “Personally, I would vote against it. But I think the larger issue is specifically how this has played out as opposed to just having a casino or not.”
The city manager says those numbers exceeded his initial estimates and will grow once the permanent facility opens. Danville plans to use the money for tourism marketing and other economic development projects.
Wells said in an email that “I wish one of the politicians in Raleigh — like Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, who’s president of the state Senate — would explain to me how passing laws to build casinos fits in with, ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’”
North Carolina lawmakers are considering a plan to allow up to four new casinos in rural areas of the state. They see a recently opened casino in Danville, Virginia — a few miles north of the state line — as an example of how gambling could help economically challenged communities.
“One of the things that convinced me that it’s the right thing to do was the idea that these entertainment areas, rural tourism areas, are things that provide a boost to the economy in counties that a boost has not been forthcoming,” Beger said. “Even with all the great things that are happening around the state … we still have places that have not grown much.”
“For me, anyway, the idea of a commitment for an investment of at least $1.5 billion, job creation of at least 5,200 jobs, with no taxpayer dollars going into it – just struck me as kind of a sweet spot if we’re going to authorize additional gaming,” Berger said.
Just behind the tent at the site of a long-abandoned textile mill, construction crews are building a much larger facility. When it opens next year, it will include a 500-room hotel and convention center with a 2,500-seat theater – the sort of facility that could draw performances and business conferences that Danville hasn’t hosted before.
North Carolina leaders see similar benefits if more casinos are allowed here. Senate leader Phil Berger’s Rockingham County home is about 20 miles from the Danville casino, and he’s been watching it closely.
