Rally in favor of the Philadelphia casinos

Hundreds of people turned out in front of Philadelphia's City Hall in a rally supporting the plans for two new casinos in the city.

Rally in favor of the Philadelphia casino Mostly members of a labor and trade union coalition called Build Them Now gathered yesterday in Philly to support the plan for the SugarHouse and Foxwoods casinos, with anti-casino activists threatening to put continued pressure on state and city lawmakers to prohibit the two casinos along the Philadelphia waterfront.

Both casinos were granted licenses on December 20th of last year but stymied at every turn, including by a recent attempt for a referendum, which was blocked by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

With the 54 percent tax on casino profits, the state gaming board has estimated that the two casinos will generate over $340 million per year in tax revenues for the state, $25 million of which would go to the city of Philadelphia. Under state law $5 million would automatically go to the Philadelphia School District. Supporters also say that the tax that the city would like see from the casinos could help bankroll a planned $700 million expansion of the Pennsylvania Convention Center by 2010, and would give the visitors of the city more entertainment options.

The team behind the proposed $550 million SugarHouse Casino at North Delaware Avenue and Shackamaxon Street on the waterfront said they were eager to move forward, and Foxwoods and its proposed $560 million casino at Columbus Boulevard share the same motivation, claiming that every day the casino building is being blocked it is costing Philadelphia $85,000 a day in revenue and thousands of jobs.

Residents in the communities around the proposed casino sites, who believe their quality of life will be diminished by the two casinos near their homes, vow to continue to fight their development.

05/10/2007