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Casinos Approved in Detroit

The Detroit City Council yesterday approved the city's $1.8 billion plan to make the Motor City the largest city in the US with casino gambling.

Three huge casinos will be built in a 57-acre warehouse district east of the downtown area. The vote was 6-3 on plans of Greektown Casino, which includes Michigan's Chippewa Indians; Detroit Entertainment, which is the Atwater/ Circus Circus group; and 5-4 on the MGM Grand Detroit bid, a vote that reflected displeasure that it includes only some 3% of black ownership, the lowest percentage of the three successful bidders.

All three now must submit license applications to the Michigan Gaming Control Board, which says it will take from four to 12 months to study the applications, and construction is expected to take three years. The Greektown group plans to open a temporary casino in Trappers Alley in the Greektown section of Detroit's downtown area, while Circus Circus and MGM Grand are still seeking temporary locations. The temporary casinos could open by the end of this year, or in early 1999.

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