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| A GRASSROOTS EFFORT TO PRESERVE BETHLEHEM'S PAST WHILE ENSURING ITS ECONOMIC FUTURE | |
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SOS In The NewsFrom The Morning Call Slots sought for ex-Steel landNew owners say license will raise money from gamblers to develop Bethlehem Works and create jobs, and could help save old blast furnaces.By Chuck Ayers and Matt Assad Of The Morning CallThe investors who plan to redevelop 120 acres of former Bethlehem Steel land will lobby the state for a license to open a slot machine resort, saying cash-carrying gamblers would bankroll the historic preservation and arts attractions many in south Bethlehem want to see. One day after the investors, BethWorks Now, closed a deal to buy the vacant Steel property, they traveled Wednesday to Harrisburg to meet with legislative leaders about a license that would spin off tens of millions of dollars in taxes and fees. ''This would be a revenue enhancement that would allow us to help the museum, the Arts Park and some other community projects that we're looking at on the site,'' said Michael Perrucci, one of the principals of BethWorks Now. Perrucci said the slots resort would take only 25 to 30 acres, leaving the bulk of the land for development into hotels, high-end shops and a residential district. Two Bethlehem area state legislators said they too will lobby the newly formed Pennsylvania State Gaming Board to award BethWorks Now a gaming license. Officials backing the concept said the license would bring a $250 million-a-year slot machine operation to the South Side, create as many as 2,500 jobs and spur development of the Bethlehem Works restaurant and shopping district, a project first proposed seven years ago. They said the slots could also generate enough money to preserve the rusted Bethlehem Steel blast furnaces, refurbish many of the historic Steel buildings, create the Arts Park and pay for an urban greenway through the South Side, according to officials backing the concept. State Sen. Lisa Boscola and state Rep. T.J. Rooney, whose districts include the former Bethlehem Steel property, said Bethlehem and Northampton County would each get a $10 million-a-year cut of the gambling revenues — money that could be pumped into offsetting tax increases and promoting economic development. Rooney, D-Northampton, said he knows gambling opponents will probably flood his office phone with messages and there will be serious competition from other regions that want the few available slots licenses. He also said slots are now legal and, like it or not, Bethlehem should do everything it can to take advantage of that, Rooney said. ''The opportunities here are limitless,'' Rooney said. ''I feel strongly that the Lehigh Valley is entitled to those opportunities, and if slots are to come to the Lehigh Valley, Bethlehem Works is the best location for them.'' Bethlehem Works, as originally envisioned by Bethlehem Steel, would include shops, restaurants and entertainment-related businesses and be anchored by a National Museum of Industrial History. BethWorks Now has said it will keep much of the concept intact, as well as preserve the blast furnaces and include as many historic structures as economically feasible. The Arts Park, proposed by Musikfest creator Jeffrey Parks, would become the home of the annual arts and music festival and several nonprofit organizations. Gov. Ed Rendell has said slot machine resorts should be in locations that are destinations. ''That's exactly what Bethlehem Works will be,'' Rooney said. Boscola, D-Northampton, said BethWorks Now — made up of Phillipsburg attorney Perrucci, New York City attorney Richard Fischbein and three principals of one of the largest independent real estate groups in the country, Newmark & Co. — has already held discussions with several casino operations, including Isle of Capri Casino, MGM Casino and Trump Casino. Those and others are looking to enter the Pennsylvania market. ''We hope to be in a position shortly to announce a gaming operator with impeccable national credentials,'' Perrucci said. Pennsylvania's gaming bill allows slot machines at up to 14 locations. It mandates that four go to existing race tracks, two to tracks already approved for horse racing but not yet operating and one for a new harness race track to be named later by the commission. Two resort licenses are mandated by law. Five slots-only casinos — no table games — are authorized, but two of them are mandated for Philadelphia and one for Pittsburgh.That leaves two licenses to be awarded. The Lehigh Valley will be competing with dozens, perhaps hundreds, of proposals from across the state, but Rooney and Boscola argue there is no better place to locate one of the remaining gaming resorts. ''We need all the legislators and local leaders to get behind one site, and I think we'll have a good chance at getting this,'' Boscola said. ''We're in a fight.'' Not everyone will be rooting for the Lehigh Valley to win the slots license sweepstakes. The Rev. Joel Atkinson, pastor of the Cathedral Church of the Nativity in south Bethlehem, wants to see his community rebound from the loss of Bethlehem Steel but doesn't believe gaming is the way to do it. Atkinson said he's willing to weigh any option to revitalize the South Side, but this one will be a tough sell for him. ''It's just an easy way to put off the real problem of rebuilding our cities,'' Atkinson said. ''Encouraging gambling addicts to dump their money in slot machines only creates other problems for the community. Gaming is just another form of taxation on people who can't afford it.'' Copyright © 2004, The Morning Call |
