From playing to praying, S.C. poker parlor converted to church

Christina Good Voice

Monday, Aug. 1, 2005 | 9:40 a.m.

MITFORD, S.C. -- The dust from the gravel parking lots has settled, the cigarette smoke has long since escaped and the neon signs no longer draw attention to the Magic Mall. The work of the Lord is now being done inside the building that once was a video poker parlor.

Touching Lives Ministries, a congregation of about 15 people, now offers a place to pray, rather than a place to play.

Gambling "is like the enemy -- the devil," said the Rev. Archie Blackman, the church's pastor. "We came to show people that there is light."

The casino-turned-church is an example of how some of the former outlets of the state's now-defunct $2.8 billion video gambling industry now serve new roles since a South Carolina Supreme Court ruling five years ago abruptly ended the games of chance.

The community of Mitford, just three miles off busy Interstate 77 between Columbia and Charlotte, N.C., was a destination for gamblers. Whether local or just visiting, people would stop at one of the half-dozen or so video poker parlors that lined State Highway 200, a stretch of two-lane blacktop that cuts through the little town of 1,500.

The parlors were open 24 hours, seven days a week, and neon signs silently screamed "OPEN." The Magic Mall stood out among the prefabricated buildings because of its pale-blue stucco. Dust from the gravel parking lot covered cars, and their owners didn't seem to notice or care what the building looked like. Inside, it wasn't very big, but it housed at least 15 video poker machines.

For gamblers, it was a lifestyle of highs and lows, debt and possible addiction. For the parlor owners, it was downright lucrative. Some Mitford parlors had up to 45 machines and more than enough customers to remain open all hours.

Mitford now consists of a gas station, a liquor store, homes, churches and five abandoned buildings, including some of the closed-down parlors, scattered along Route 200. The paint on the vacant buildings is faded, the lots are overgrown, and there are "For Sale" signs.

One church that occupied another former video gambling den has closed. In other parts of the state, ex-poker parlors provide ample space for new endeavors: In Aiken County along the Georgia state line, a school has opened where poker machines used to glow; in Richland County, home to the state capital, a jazz bar has been in business for four years in a former parlor where a slaying happened.