KYW Newsradio Team Coverage
Just two weeks after agreeing to look at other locations for its slots parlor, the Foxwoods Casino appears to have settled on the heart of center city -- the Gallery at Market East.
KYW's Mike Dunn reports that Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell made the announcement early Wednesday afternoon, confirming that talks were ongoing with the Foxwoods gambling group.
Rendell said the area under consideration was toward the western end of the Gallery shopping mall -- between 10th and 11th Streets, on the north side of Market, currently the site of a Burlington Coat Factory retail store.
And the governor spent considerable time at the press conference touting the economic benefits of a slots parlor for Philadelphia: by his accounting, 6,200 direct jobs and about 14,000 construction jobs, with the operation throwing tens of millions of dollars every month into state coffers and local businesses that serve the casino industry.
Mayor Michael Nutter said Foxwoods officials clearly understand that their original site on the south Delaware waterfront doesn't work:
"I think the Foxwoods group ultimately decided that this new potential location is even better."
Foxwoods officials favor the new site for its proximately to mass transit, hotels, and the Pennsylvania Convention Center.
Michael Thomas, head of the tribe that owns Foxwoods, is hopeful:
"This is an option that all of us will try to make work."
Nutter vowed to address the concerns of neighborhood groups. He said that the new Foxwoods plan presents an opportunity to revitalize a commercial area of center city that he says has been problematic.
Nutter, who has said repeatedly that the Delaware waterfront was the wrong place for a slots parlor, reiterated on Wednesday that he always accepted there would be two casinos in Philadelphia -- the only question was where.
And Governor Rendell touted a ripple effect for center city development:
"This has the opportunity to spur economic development and growth along the Market Street East corridor."
The plan would need to be approved by the state Gaming Control Board.
First District city councilman Frank DiCicco, whose district includes Foxwoods' original and new proposed locations, said late Tuesday night that this was far from a done deal.
The councilman says he expects neighbors of the Gallery will have a lot to say about the proposed slots spot:
"No matter where a decision is to place a casino, you're always going to have opposition. The question for me will be -- if this is a go, and we won't know that for a few weeks -- what are the benefits, what are the problems that we foresee coming as a result of this?"
DiCicco says there are many potential problems that will need to be discussed:
"In addition to traffic, there are some social behavior issues that we need to look at that we already have in place. And we need to make sure there will be enough resources going forward should this become a reality to address those concerns."
KYW's Paul Kurtz reports that the Foxwoods proposal for the Gallery in center city Philadelphia has sent shock waves through the neighborhood in nearby Chinatown.
"We are surprised."
Ellen Somekawa of the community group Asian Americans United says she feels the same way she did a few years back when the Phillies proposed building their new stadium in Chinatown:
"At that time we weren't consulted. It was sort being informed after the fact. And we're pretty shocked that officials are repeating these mistakes, and again not consulting people, making announcements before really communicating with people in the neighborhoods."
Somekawa says it's too early to say how Chinatown will respond, but her group's first move will be talking to neighbors immediately about the proposal and reminding the city about the stadium battle.
In December 2006, Foxwoods won permission to build a $670-million slots parlor along the Delaware River in South Philadelphia. Construction has been delayed by protests from neighbors, state legislators and city officials who say the site is too close to homes and would create traffic problems.
Foxwoods had said in late August that they were willing to relocate from its controversial site at Delaware and Reed (see related story).
Also in August, Sugarhouse -- another group planning a slots parlor on the waterfront -- said that while they were committed to that original location, they'd meet with the mayor, the governor, and others sometime after Labor Day (see related story).
(Photo by KYW's Ian Bush)
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