Friday, April 10, 1998 | 9:02 a.m.
But the $1.8 billion plan approved Thursday - which has come under fire because Mayor Dennis Archer did not award one of three available casino franchises to blacks in a city that is 80 percent black - still could be thwarted.
Don Barden, a black Detroit businessman whose proposal was rejected by Archer, emphasized that the state still must approve the casinos.
"This is not over yet," Barden said. "This is just a first phase. We could be back to square one in a number of months."
However, Archer said blacks had stakes in all three casino groups and also would benefit from casino jobs and contracts.
Herb Strather, chairman of the Atwater group, a partnership that includes Las Vegas-based Circus Circus, said he hopes the issue of black ownership of the casinos can be put to rest.
"Let this also be a day we can begin the healing," Strather said. "The community is divided now. It's time we come together for the benefit of everybody. There are a lot of opportunities and people should seize this moment."
The Atwater group, along with MGM Grand and Greektown/Chippewa Indians were the winning bidders.
Archer says casinos would create 11,000 permanent full-time jobs and bring in $130 million in gambling taxes and $50 million in property taxes a year.
"Detroit's City Council has approved development agreements which bring jobs, business opportunities, a new stream of tax revenue and a first-class tourist attraction to the city of Detroit," Archer said at a news conference, standing in front of the council members who approved the plan.
"This is a very, very important step that is going to make a big difference for the city of Detroit."
Supporters say gambling would give a boost to a city that has been striving to come back after a long slide. Since the late 1950s, Detroit has lost nearly half its people and more than half its jobs. A steady flight to the suburbs was accelerated after the 1967 race riots that killed 43 people and left blocks of burned-out hulks.
"The mayor's plan is the best for the city, it's going to bring us into the 21st century," said Tom Wilson, spokesman for Citizens for Detroit Jobs, a group that sponsored pro-casino radio and television commercials in the weeks leading up to the council vote. "It's going to draw people to Detroit from Chicago to Cleveland."
The council Thursday approved the Greektown/Chippewa Indians and Circus Circus proposals by 6-3 votes. The MGM Grand proposal passed 5-4, after council member Kenneth Cockrel switched his vote.
Cockrel said he voted against MGM because it has approximately 3 percent black ownership, the lowest of the three winning bids.
"In a city that is 80 percent African-American, I would have liked to see it go to a majority-black group," Cockrel said.
Archer also was criticized for moving the proposed casino site from the central business district to a warehouse district along the Detroit River a few miles away. Archer said the new area was the only viable site.
Council member Nicholas Hood III voted against the casinos because of their location.
"It doesn't have any economic spinoff for the downtown," he said of the riverfront site.
Area residents expressed mixed views.
"It truly is the right thing for the city," said Brian McDonald, manager of the Soup Kitchen Saloon in the riverfront district. "It will bring a lot of revenue and physical improvements."
Harry Howes of Huntington Woods said he is against gambling, but has resigned himself to the idea that casinos are coming.
"Gambling is not smart for Detroit," Howes said. "Millions of dollars are being spent across the river on gambling, not on things like cars and food. Gamblers won't be able to afford to buy stuff in Detroit."
Archer pressured the council to decide by today whether to pass the plan. He had said a failure to act this week would endanger financing and embolden casino opponents statewide.
The Michigan Gaming Control Board could act within four to six months, paving the way for temporary casinos to open by the end of the year or the beginning of 1999, Archer said. Permanent casinos would follow two to three years later.
The statewide ballot measure allowing casino gambling in Detroit passed in 1996.
Investors celebrated the vote at a downtown hotel, as many expressed gratitude to the community and the council for supporting the casinos.
"All of our investors are going to declare the ninth day of April, 1998, the day of economic independence for the city of Detroit," said Ted Gatzaros of the Greektown group.
The casinos would be taxed at 18 percent. Fifty-five percent of the tax revenues would finance anti-crime and other programs in Detroit, and 45 percent would support schools statewide.
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