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Casino's Size Shocks Pittsburgh Gaming Task Force

PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania – As reported by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: "Imagine dropping a building nearly the size of a Wal-Mart Supercenter on the Downtown riverfront.

"…It's enough to give any urban planner the sweats. But that's what the city could be confronted with as it prepares to make room for a casino capable of holding 3,000 slot machines, with the potential to add up to 2,000 more.

"The sheer size of the proposed venue has stunned members of the Pittsburgh Gaming Task Force, the volunteer group put together by Mayor Tom Murphy to study the impact of the casino. By size alone, the casino could alter the city's landscape in much the same way as PNC Park, the convention center, and Heinz Field.

"…Task force members and public officials find themselves wrestling with the potential size of the casino, and attendant traffic and access issues, at the same time the number two Democrat in the state House is trying to bar municipalities once again from having control over the zoning of casinos.

"…Just how big of a casino could be landing in the cities?

"The Philadelphia Gaming Advisory Task Force, which is struggling with the same issues as its Pittsburgh counterpart, estimates that a casino with 3,000 slot machines and room to add 2,000 more, plus table games, will need about 100,000 square feet of floor space.

"…To do all of that, plus account for parking in a 3,000 space garage and leave land for a 400-room hotel, a casino operator would need 9 to 12 acres, the task force estimates.

"…Equally important to the task force, to Murphy and others is how such a huge structure will fit into the half dozen or so potential sites in play for the casino, what the traffic impact will be and just what the gambling venue will look like in terms of design…"

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