Gettysburg Group Loses Bid For Casino License Near Historic Battlefield
HARRISBURG, Pa. (CBS) - The latest Battle of Gettysburg is apparently over. A group seeking to place a casino near the historic battlefield was among the losing applicants today as the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board awarded the state's last currently available casino license to a resort near Pittsburgh.
It's actually the third Battle of Gettysburg, if you count the unsuccessful effort to put a full-sized casino there four years ago.
This time, some historic preservation advocates and local residents bitterly fought efforts to win a smaller, "resort" casino license, which the gaming board has decided will be located at the Nemacolin resort, in Fayette County.
"I feel great! I feel great!" said Susan Star Paddock, leader of the main Gettysburg opposition. "It's a win for our grassroots group, it's a win for Adams County, it's a win for our nation, and it's a win for future generations," she said following the PGCB's decision.
But David La Torre, a spokesman for the unsuccessful Gettysburg applicant, insists that the community supported the bid.
"More supporters than opponents testified at our public hearing," he said.
The other resort casino will be located at the Valley Forge Convention Center.
The fate of one other Pennsylvania casino license, that of the Foxwoods group in Philadelphia, remains the subject of a protracted legal battle (see related story).
Reported by KYW Harrisburg Bureau chief Tony Romeo
