No Casino Gettysburg

Save Our Historic, Family Friendly Community

WE WON!

saved again

Debt is PAID!

donation thank you

how we won

PGCB denial reasons

A casino WHERE?!

How to Help

Opposition

Position Papers

It's A Bad Idea!

National Groups Help

Editorials

Living History

PRESS Releases- LATEST

Press Releases -archive

Empty Promises

Gambling

The Investors

The COMPETITION

Crossroads Hearing

Politics

Businesses Against Casino

Petitions

Our Values

Contact/ Links

Wed, Dec 13, "between 1 and 2 PM" Crossroads had its' hearing before the PA Gaming Control Board.

Compared with their competition, their presentation was very weak, and they got some hard questions from the Board.   http://www.abc27.com/news/stories/1206/379537.html story on hearing

Tuesday, December 19 - beginning at 10:00 a.m.
• Public Hearing - Category 2 and 3 Oral Arguments Everyone can come back with their attorneys to argue particular points with one another.
THE DECISION: Dec 20, Wed, PGCB Board Meeting, the Board will vote on the applicants. We expect Victory and No Casino Gettysburg!

300 crowd G'burg casino hearing
By RICHARD FELLINGER and MEG BERNHARDT
Evening Sun
Article Launched:12/14/2006 09:22:18 AM EST
 
An estimated 300 people – the largest crowd for any of 13 licensing hearings on Pennsylvania slots plans – packed the auditorium of the State Museum inHarrisburg for a hearing on a Gettysburg-area slots plan.

The Gaming Control Board, which will award the slots licenses, noticed the turnout, board spokesman Doug Harbach said.

And the big crowd shows the proposed Crossroads Gaming Resort and Spa – more than any other slots plan – has significant numbers of supporters and opponents, he said.

"The gaming board does not live in a vacuum," Harbach said. "But let me add it was the presentation and in-depth questioning that was the most important in the board's fact-gathering today."

For the most part, the crowd was attentive and well-behaved.

There was some hissing when Adams County Commissioner Tom Weaver, a casino backer, testified as part of a lengthy presentation by Crossroads. There was also some groaning when casino head David LeVan mentioned the controversy the plan has stirred.

LeVan said the controversy has been driven by "outside special-interest groups" that have raised money as a result.

And during the hearing, he said the casino has the support of the only preservation group in town – a statement that drew ire from preservation groups against the project.

Two busloads of casino backers came to the hearing from Gettysburg. Many belong to the local grassroots group Pro Casino Adams County and some have union affiliations.

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

For their part, a few dozen opponents organized at the Harrisburg office of Preservation Pennsylvania, which is just down the block from the State Museum, and walked to the hearing from there.

Some critics belong to the local group No Casino Gettysburg while others belong to historic-preservation groups.

"(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.

Hoping to make a statement without making a ruckus, both sides distributed their own T-Shirts, and many people wore them.

The pro-casino shirts said just that: "Pro Casino." The anti-casino crowd wore shirts that read "No Casino Gettysburg" or "Stop The Slots, Don't Gamble With Gettysburg."

Contact Meg Bernhardt at mbernhardt@eveningsun.com.

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 Philadelphia. 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

Website powered by Network Solutions®