Boon or boondoggle? Hot debate over casinos for Detroit

Tuesday, April 7, 1998 | 10:05 a.m.

Several hundred people turned out for a public hearing Monday afternoon on Mayor Dennis Archer's plan to build three casinos in a warehouse district near downtown.

The City Council is scheduled to vote on the $1.8 billion plan Friday.

Opponents complain that the plan will not live up to expectations and are angry that none of the three proposed casinos would be black-majority owned.

But supporters claim the idea is a winner.

"We see this as the biggest employment opportunity of the 20th century," Archer spokesman Greg Bowens said Monday. "Since World War II, when Detroit was the Arsenal of Democracy, there has been nothing like this."

Archer, once an outspoken opponent of casino gambling, now is the plan's biggest backer. He and his supporters - including local unions - say casinos would help jump-start the city's economy.

"More than 11,000 construction jobs and 15,000 full- and part-time permanent jobs will be generated as a result of casino gambling," Metropolitan Detroit AFL-CIO President Ed Scribner said Thursday.

There's little doubt of the demand for casinos.

Business is booming right across the Canadian border at two casinos in Windsor, Ontario, and an expansion already is in the works. Indian tribes have opened casinos on reservations across northern Michigan.

But Archer faces a tough fight to convince a majority of the nine-member council to approve his plan.

Some opponents warn of crime, gambling addiction and other social problems. They say casinos have been a disappointment as a development tool in cities such as New Orleans and Atlantic City, N.J.

Others support casinos but are angry that despite a city that is 80-percent black, none of the three casinos would be black-majority owned.

Archer, who is black, drew harsh criticism when he rejected black businessman Don Barden for one of the three casino franchises. Blacks hold shares of up to 18 percent in the three winning bids - Atwater/Circus Circus, Greektown/Chippewa Indians and MGM Grand. None has majority-black ownership.

The council vote would clear the way for the project, although a ballot initiative in August seeks to force the city to create a black-owned casino.

Whatever their misgivings, council members probably will end up going along with the plan because they fear letting the project die, one observer said Monday.

"I don't think there are a total of five members with the guts to say no to casino gambling," political consultant Mario Morrow said.

Supporters see the plan as a major step in the city's revival.

In the late 1950s, Detroit had nearly 2 million people, many employed by the Big Three automakers. In a long slide since then, most of the city's jobs and nearly half its people have left.

As the nation's largest city with casinos, Detroit would have a leg up on the competition for visitors and the money they spend, Bowens said. But that opportunity will not last for long, he added.

"We have a small window," he said.