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Detroit Shows the Gamble Casinos Can Be

DETROIT – As reported by the Detroit Inquirer: "When this city and the state of Michigan decided to go into the urban casino business in 1996, a lot of promises were made. And some have been kept.

"But two of the biggest still hang in the balance - and with them the future shape of the entire endeavor.

"…One of the promises in jeopardy is the commitment from each of Detroit's three casino operators to build "permanent" facilities, meaning Atlantic City-style hotels, complete with restaurants, shopping, meeting rooms and theaters.

"…It has been more than 71/2 years since the Michigan vote, and Detroit casinos still are housed in drab, "temporary" facilities - an abandoned IRS center, a converted bread factory, a renovated warehouse.

"The other pledge at risk is the implicit one that Michigan gave the casinos at the outset: that the rules of the game wouldn't change for a while.

"Now the legislature, confronted with a budget crisis, is poised to raise casino taxes by at least a third and allow video slot machines at racetracks throughout the state.

"Should those changes go through, casino operators say, Detroit might have to forget about ever seeing those permanent casinos, already scaled down from 800 rooms each to 400 and entangled in litigation.

"…For all the rhetoric, there's no question that the gambling experience in Detroit has delivered on the basic benefits of jobs and tax revenue.

"Pretty much as promised, 8,200 jobs have been created by the MGM Grand, Motor City and Greektown casinos, which offer table games as well as slots. More than half of those jobs are filled by city residents, in keeping with the original commitments…"

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