SEARCH NEWS:

 

New Orleans Downtown Casino Plan Dead

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana – As reported by the Louisiana Times-Picayune: "Mayor Ray Nagin's controversial proposal to make a downtown casino zone a key component of New Orleans' post-Katrina economic recovery strategy appears to have died as quickly as it was born.

"Testifying Tuesday before two House Transportation subcommittees on Capitol Hill, Nagin said he has given up on his idea to let a handful of the city's largest hotels develop on-site casinos.

"'The governor didn't much like the idea, so it is pretty much dead,' Nagin told a House hearing on 'a vision and strategy for rebuilding New Orleans.'

"Though Nagin expressed confidence that the areas of the city that lie west of the Industrial Canal can and should be rebuilt, he left open the question of how extensive the reconstruction should be in eastern New Orleans and the Lower 9th Ward, which suffered the worst flooding.

"Gov. Kathleen Blanco, on the other hand, told committee members that the city and state are far from determining if any area of the ravaged city should be returned to flood plain.

"…The mayor's gambling proposal appeared doomed from the start.

"Hours after Nagin unveiled the idea at a news conference, locals began jamming radio talk show phone lines to lash the mayor for suggesting that the casino industry would be the savior of a city already plagued with poverty and crime.

"Blanco more politely registered her disapproval, urging the mayor to be cautious in looking toward gambling as a quick fix to the city's economic problems…"

< Gaming News