DavidLeVan is hoping the third time really is the charm.
The Gettysburg businessman who failed in 2006 in his bid to build a casino in Straban Township, and whose second plan has been stalled since last summer, is trying yet again to bring slots – and possibly table games – to Adams County.
On Wednesday, LeVan said he and an anonymous business partner are poised to aggressively pursue a Category 3 “resort” gaming license, which would limit the number of slot machines to 500.
The site of LeVan’s newest proposal is the Eisenhower Hotel and Conference Center, which sits along Emmitsburg Road in Cumberland Township, about five miles from downtown Gettysburg.
LeVan – who owns Battlefield Harley-Davidson on Route 30 – said he and his business partner have secured an option to buy the 100-acre property that will expire “almost a full year from now.”
But, LeVan said, he will not purchase the property unless he can first secure a Category 3 license. What that means is that several events must unfold perfectly – and within a year – if LeVan is to be successful:
The state Legislature must amend gaming laws to either allow new applicants a chance to obtain the one Category 3 license that has yet to be awarded, or it must increase the total number of Category 3 licenses available.
The state Gaming Control Board would need to reopen the application process for at least one Category 3 license.
Board members would have to award that license to LeVan and his business partner before they would choose to buy the conference center
LeVan said he has been making the case to lawmakers that a gaming resort near Gettysburg and the Baltimore/Washington, D.C., markets would mean big bucks for the state.
It’s an argument LeVan has been making for years. He first attempted to bring gaming to Adams County in 2006. But his plan to build a standalone casino on an open field off Route 30 was rejected largely because of objections to the idea of a gambling facility so close to the Gettysburg battlefield, where thousands lost their lives in 1863.
Then, in July 2008, LeVan pursued the last Category 1 license, with which he could have also built a horse-racing track. But the state gaming board has yet to rule on the application of company that wants to build a casino near Pittsburgh. LeVan had said he would attempt to secure that license if the other group didn’t get it.
On Wednesday, LeVan declined to comment on the status of that proposal.
“At this point, I am totally focused on (the Category 3) project,” he said.
He also emphasized that the resort would simply move into an existing facility, unlike his 2006 attempt. LeVan thinks the conference center’s location – just under a mile from the southern boundary of Gettysburg National Military Park – would not interfere with the plans of battlefield visitors.
He’s even got a name picked out – the Mason-Dixon Resort – for the site, only about two miles from the Maryland border.
LeVan said he was not yet prepared to discuss many specifics, but he did say Adams County and Cumberland Township could each expect at least $1 million annually in tax money as a result of hosting the resort. He said the community could expect the project to produce about 200 new jobs, and current employees of the Eisenhower center would be retained.
Copyright © 2010 – Daily Record/Sunday News
