State approves licenses for Detroit’s first casino

Wednesday, July 28, 1999 | 4:56 a.m.

DETROIT - The Michigan Gaming Control Board dealt the first card for the Motor City's fledgling casino industry on Wednesday, voting to grant a license to the MGM Grand Detroit Casino.

MGM Grand officials told the board it planned to open sometime between midnight Wednesday and 4 p.m. Thursday.

"We're obviously very excited about this. The opportunity to be a part of the rebirth of a great city is a very important factor," said J. Terrence Lanni, chairman and CEO of MGM Grand, in his testimony earlier in the 3-and-a-half-hour meeting.

The three-story, $225 million casino has two floors packed with more than 2,300 slot machines and 80 table games. The slot machines play amounts from 5 cents to $500 a spin.

Under the agreement MGM Grand originally signed with the city, the earliest date the casino could open is Aug. 28. But Mayor Dennis Archer on Wednesday issued a waiver for the casino to open. He sent letters to the city council and MGM.

Although MGM Grand has been issued a license, they do not receive it right away. The gaming board still has to process the employee licenses of about 300 workers, said gaming board Director Nelson Westrin. He said that should take a matter of hours.

Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer's spokesman Gregory Bowens has said Archer set two conditions for an early MGM opening - state approval and a ruling from a federal judge that was handed down earlier this month.

In it, U.S. District Judge Gerald Rosen denied developer Don Barden's motion to stop the casino licensing process. In May, Barden filed a $108 million lawsuit against the city and state, seeking to block the casinos.

But Rosen ruled that Barden had knowingly and voluntarily signed the release of claims giving up the right to sue the city arising out of the casino development and selection process.

Under its agreement with the city, the MGM Grand and the two other temporary casinos have to close 48 months after they open, and space for gambling is limited to 75,000 square feet. The conditions are designed to spur the building of permanent casinos on Detroit's riverfront.

The casino, which will stay open around the clock 365 days a year, is expecting more than 10,000 visitors a day, MGM Grand President Lyn Baxter said.

MGM Grand plans to employ about 2,700 people, called "cast members" in MGM parlance, about half of whom live in Detroit.