Friday, Sept. 16, 2005 | 11:21 a.m.
Plans for Bethlehem Steel site to save historic buildings
BETHLEHEM, Pa. -- About 70 percent of the historic buildings at the former Bethlehem Steel site would be preserved under a plan being put forward by developers.
As part of an effort to dissuade City Council from passing a gambling ban, BethWorks Now and Las Vegas Sands Corp. said they would save 23 of the remaining 33 buildings at the South Bethlehem site. The two companies have plans to transform the 126-acre site into an $879 million casino, shopping and apartment complex.
On Tuesday, the City Council is expected to vote on a zoning change that would ban a slots parlor on the former plant's properties.
"We've worked very hard at preserving a majority of the buildings, because we think the legacy of Bethlehem Steel is very important to our plans," said Michael Perrucci, principal at BethWorks Now. "We're hoping the city fathers and the community will be happy with what they see."
Councilman Gordon Mowrer, who is sponsoring the zoning amendment to ban gambling, believes the preservation plans will win over many.
"It's absolutely beautifully done. I can't argue with any of those preservation plans," Mowrer said. "But I still don't like gambling. I still can't get past that part of it."
Last year, the National Trust for Historic Preservation named the former Bethlehem Steel site as among the most endangered historic places in the country.
IPO to raise $375 million, cutting amount initially sought
888 Holdings Plc, the world's largest Internet casino operator by number of visitors, is seeking to raise a less-than-planned 206 million pounds ($375 million) in an initial public offering after shares of rival PartyGaming Plc plunged.
888 is selling as many as 97 million shares at 162 pence to 212 pence apiece, the Gibraltar-based company said in a statement Thursday. The IPO values the business at as much as 715 million pounds, compared with an earlier estimate of 825 million pounds.
"PartyGaming is the gorilla of the industry, the biggest and most profitable," said Hugh Sergeant, who manages about $320 million in U.K. equities at SG Asset Management in London and is considering buying 888 shares. "It would be wrong for 888 to be sold at a premium to PartyGaming."
Blue Ribbons Downs casino application amended
OKLAHOMA CITY -- Blue Ribbon Downs moved a step closer Thursday to becoming the first horse racing track in Oklahoma to offer casino gambling as a state panel eased a bonding requirement.
At the request of Bob Rabon, attorney for the Choctaw Nation, members of the Oklahoma Horse Racing Commission, voted unanimously to drop a requirement that the operator of the so-called racino, Backstretch L.L.C, carry a _$1 million surety bond.
In other action, the commission voted to grant a gaming operator license to Will Rogers Downs at Claremore, but the action will not become official until commissioners sign an order at its meeting next month.
Rabon said the Choctaw Nation, which owns Blue Ribbons Downs, had met 11 of the 12 conditions for a license set down by the commission, including surrendering its sovereign immunity in connection with the operation of the casino at the track in Sallisaw.
Requiring a $1 million surety bond, which would cost $30,000 to $40,000 a year, would be excessive and unnecessary, considering the tribe's heavy investment in Blue Ribbons Downs and its willingness to take other steps to guarantee prize money would be protected, Rabon said.
He said the tribe was in excellent financial condition.
"They have a lot of assets...and they have no debt," he said.
Rabon also said the bond requirement was not part of state law allowing the gaming.
Group seeks to challenge state gambling law in Supreme Court
ALBANY, N.Y. -- The group that failed to stop New York from approving Indian casino deals and video slot machines filed Thursday to take its case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The anti-gambling group that includes state lawmakers, clergy and a Chamber of Commerce president argue the federal Indian gaming law allowing casinos doesn't trump a prohibition against gambling in the state constitution.
There was no immediate response from state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's office, which represents the state.
The state has 30 days to respond after which the U.S. Supreme Court could decide whether the case should be considered again, said Cornelius Murray, an Albany lawyer representing anti-gambling interests.
In May, the state's highest court, in a 5-2 decision, ruled that video slot machines and Indian-owned casinos are constitutional, a victory for the Legislature and governor who have increasingly relied on gambling to fill budget shortfalls.
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