A coalition of national and state historic preservation groups will fight renewed plans by Gettysburg businessman David LeVan to develop a casino in Adams County.

LeVan is seeking a resort casino license for the Eisenhower Hotel and Conference Center in Cumberland Twp. That license would allow development of a casino with up to 600 slot machines and 50 table games on a tract lying just a half-mile from the Gettysburg National Military Park.

The coalition, comprised of the Civil War Preservation Trust, National Parks Conservation Association, the National Trust for Historic Preservation and Preservation Pennsylvania, issued a joint statement today saying their opposition is based on the threat of overdevelopment of an area so close to the historic Civil War battlefield. The groups also contend a casino is a bad fit with the heritage tourism Adams County thrives on.

“Locating and marketing a gambling facility at Gettysburg unavoidably conflicts with the essential meaning of this place in American history,” said James Lighthizer, president of the Civil War Preservation Trust.

LeVan’s partnership criticized the groups for acting before seeing final plans for the site. LeVan has said his project will save and create hundreds of new jobs, improve a now-struggling commercial property and generate needed revenue for county and local governments.

By CHARLES THOMPSON, The Patriot-News
January 28, 2010, 6:25PM