I just find this vaguely appropriate to post at the moment, no real commentary for or against
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Preservation group backs Gettysburg Casino
August 17, 2010 - 12:44pm

Evan Haning, wtop.com
WASHINGTON - Proponents of a project to convert Gettysburg's Eisenhower Conference Center into a gambling casino received new support from a surprising corner -- the Gettysburg Battlefield Preservation Association.

The GBPA, which calls itself the nation's oldest Civil War preservation group, said on Monday the Mason Dixon Resort & Casino project would help the local economy.

"Preservation does not exist in a vacuum. Our local preservation work cannot thrive absent a local economy that helps induce and support it," writes Brendan Synnamon, GBPA president.

No Casino Gettysburg spokeswoman Susan Star Paddock strongly disagrees.

"The GBPA's reference to this debate as a 'local issue' is tragically out of step with the way most Americans view the Gettysburg battlefield."

The American Legion has joined local opponents of the project, calling the casino proposal "a national disgrace."

Casino supporters say the resort's location one-half mile from Gettysburg National Military Park presents no threat to the historical significance of the field where 172,000 Union and Confederate troops fought and nearly 8,000 died.

But American Legion National Commander Clarence E. Hill sees it differently.

"The battlefield actually encompassed a greater area than is currently designated as a military historical site. In order to show the proper respect, we believe that something as frivolous as a casino should be much more than a half a mile away," Hill said.

Local officials insist that the national organization does not speak for them.

"Personally, he has no idea what he's talking about," Richard Baumgardner, commander of Gettysburg American Legion Post 202, tells the Gettysburg Times. "We are neutral on the subject. We were not consulted ... the national commander has been misinformed on this project."

Referring to the American Legion, Mason Dixon spokesman David La Torre tells WTOP, "Where were they the last 20 years when development has run rampant on the actual battlefield?"

Within the last year, La Torre says the Gettysburg Country Club developed high-density housing on 120 acres of battlefield land that saw some of the heaviest fighting of the engagement.

Local businesses are split on how the casino would affect their community.

Supporters point to the $221,124,306 in gaming revenues collected by Pennsylvania in 2009 and believe a casino would create new jobs and bring more visitors to the battlefield.

Opponents worry that restaurant jobs will be lost and that the gambling resort will lure bed and breakfast customers away from town. They also say that the promise of local revenue increases from gambling often fails to appear. As for drawing new visitors to the battlefield, that apparently did not happen when casinos came to Vicksburg. The National Park Service reports visitation has remained static.

But La Torre claims the visitor count at Vicksburg doesn't tell the whole story.

"[Critics] don't take into account Mississippi's economy. They don't take Hurricane Katrina into account."

Although visitors must pay an admission fee to visit the Mississippi battlefield, La Torre says statistics on the U.S. National Park Service Web site show an increase in park attendance two out of the last three years and five out of the last 10 at Vicksburg.

"Gettysburg has seen a decrease in visitors eight out of the last 10 years," despite the fact that admission to the battlefield is free, La Torre says.

"Nobody has ever argued that Gettysburg National Military Park is not the property of all Americans. But people seem to forget that the Mason Dixon Resort [would not be] located on the battlefield. The National Park occupies 6,000 acres, and we are not on a single inch of that park," La Torre says.

Nonetheless, 275 historians including Pulitzer Prize winning Civil War historian James McPherson, other national historical preservationists continue to support NoCasino.org in opposing the casino.

Pennsylvania gaming officials will hold a public hearing on the project on Aug. 31. No final decision is expected before the end of the year.