Do Pittsburghers Really Want Slots?

In the face of the current flurry of flashy casino pitches, local polling indicates that many of Pittsburgh’s citizens may not be convinced that their city’s financial issues can be solved by the legalization of gambling.  (Conducted by Pittsburgh Tribune Review Dec. 26 – 28.  Margin of error +/- 4.34%).

A shaky 47% of the 500 registered city voters feel that Pittsburgh can get back on its feet through gambling.  An almost matching 44% are completely unconvinced.  Then there is the undecided 9%. 

Jim Lee, president of Susquehanna Polling and Research said, “I don’t think the city will have much of a love affair with gambling.”  Susquehanna conducted the most recent gambling poll in Pittsburgh.  Lee affirms, “We’ve never really seen that strong a level of support for gambling in the Southwestern part of the state.  

On Wednesday, state regulators received applications from four bidders hoping to establish freestanding casinos in Pittsburgh.  Neighborhood development for each pitch ranged from $300 million to $1 billion.  City planners are currently reviewing the neighborhood-impact studies submitted by the bidders for the $50 million casino license. 

The same poll shows that Pittsburgh residents cannot even come to a clear preference as to where to place a casino.  A slim majority leans toward the Lower Hill District as opposed to Station Square and North Shore.  

Manchester local, Charita Bush, 34, is very much in favor of having slot machines in Pittsburgh.  Bush, one of those polled, makes frequent pilgrimages to Niagara Falls and Atlantic City each year.  Bush is in favor of setting up casinos on the North Shore, arguing, “They’re used to congestion over here, and they deal with it.”

North Side local, Michael Peterson, 34, stands in support for a completely different reason.  Though he confesses to not being much of a gambler, Peterson believes the community will benefit from pocketing the money that is currently flowing into West Virginian slot machines.  Peterson would rather see that money finance local services.

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board is not expected to issue any casino licenses until next summer.  They will be closely examining applications in the month before that. 

Until applications had actually been filed not much was know about the casino proposed by Cleveland’s Forest City Enterprises and Las Vegas’ Harrah’s Entertainment.  According to the polls, 17% support the building of Harrah’s Station Square Casino.  

According to Harrah’s local impact study, the12.3 acre site of the Chevrolet Amphitheater, the Gateway Clipper Fleet entrance, and ground level parking lots will be the future grounds of their project. 

At the casino’s opening, it will house 3,000 slot machines, eventually maturing to 4,000 machines.  A casino with this number of slot machines has the power to draw 24,000 patrons on a peak weekday and an unbelievable 40,000 patrons on a peak weekend.  The traffic would liken itself to the experience of a Steelers game day according to the study conducted by DKS Associates and GAI Consultants. 

Included in Harrah’s building plans are a hotel, an enclosed “winter garden”, and two parking garages.  One garage will be a 2,500-space stand-alone structure and the other, a 600-space garage beneath the casino, will be for valet parking.  

6% percent of the expected future traffic will travel via East Carson Street.  7 % will take the Arlington Avenue route.  But the numbers take a big leap as 23 % of traffic is expected to come from Interstate 279 and the Fort Pitt Bridge.  29 % will come from West Carson Street.  Patrons crossing the Smithfield Street Bridge from Downtown are expected to produce over one third of the traffic.  Only a very small percentage is expected to cross through the narrow streets of the South Side.  

"The bottom line from our local impact report is that there is the capacity, from a traffic and infrastructure standpoint, for a casino at Station Square," said Forest City’s spokesman Abe Naparstek. 

The other groups vying for the Pittsburgh slot license have also submitted their neighborhood impact studies.  Former executives of Las Vegas’ Mandalay Resort Group along with Merrill Stabile, owner of Alco Parking, are working together under the name of the North Shore Gaming Partnership to plan a casino near PNC Park.  

Mississippi’s Isle of Capri Casino and Ohio’s Nationwide Realty Investors are partnering with the Pittsburgh Penguins NHL team to build a new $290 million arena.  Appeasing the 25 % of the poll that would prefer casinos in the Lower Hill/Uptown area, the arena is planned to cover the block between Fifth and Centre Avenue.  

Michigan’s Don Barden would love to add a North Shore slots parlor to his current national casino holdings.  The parlor would be located west of the Carnegie Science Center on land held by the owners of the Gateway Clipper Fleet.  Plans include a riverboat dock.  Barden’s plans would appease the 19% that support building casinos on the North Shore. 

West Virginia’s MTR Gaming dropped out of the slots license race late Wednesday.  MTR was once considered building in the Strip District or Hays.  However, less and less residents support building casinos in that area.  MTR even submitted their impact reports to city planner.  MTR will, instead, operate a casino at a future Erie racetrack.

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