Gambling, considered a harmless distraction by many, though by no means all, is considered something of a grail in the former Borscht Belt, promising life to the region”™s former booming entertainment and tourism industry.
With an enormous potential market across the river in Westchester County and New York City, the wait for pro-gambling forces ”“ including Native American tribes ”“ has been excruciating to the point many have given up.
While most of Sullivan County”™s Legislature, Sullivan County Partnership and town of Thompson Supervisor Anthony Cellinni support casino gambling as the only way the region can reinvent itself, the quest to legalize gambling in the Catskills remains an elusive butterfly that”™s been flitting about for decades.
Currently, the only gambling going on is video gaming at Monticello Casino, which has seen revenues dropping steadily ”“ down 9 percent for the first three quarters of 2009, according to media reports. With the Pennsylvania border only 20 minutes away ”“ and offering traditional gambling venues to visitors, with hotels to boot ”“ it is an uphill battle to lure tourists to Sullivan, particularly since the current hotel infrastructure cannot support the influx of tourists businesses need to be in the plus column.
Plans to build Entertainment City at Kiamesha Lake are on an indefinite hold.
Still, many stakeholders believe casino gambling is the footing on which a new Catskill infrastructure can be built. (Locals say they”™ll believe it when they see it. It”™s been 20 years since a Mayan Temple-style casino was unveiled with great fanfare for I-87 exit 21 in Greene County, site now to a Home Depot.)
The Seneca Nation has been proposing to establish a casino in Sullivan County for the past ten years, and currently the only one of the five original Native American tribes continuing to push for a casino in the Catskills.
They signed an exclusive agreement with Michigan-based Rotate Black several months ago to build the region”™s first major casino ”“ if they can secure federal approval. Although Secretary of the Interior Larry Echo Hawk visited Monticello a year ago, there has been no change in the federal government”™s decision to allow casino gambling off Indian reservations. The Seneca Nation currently operates three casinos in western New York and scrapped plans for a fourth in the area, citing economic reasons.
Seneca Nation President Barry Snyder said a Catskill casino would generate $160 million in annual revenue to state and local governments, according to a prepared statement on Rotate Black”™s website. He has spoken with town of Thompson Supervisor Tony Cellini, who was not available for comment.
Rotate Black has acquired 63 acres off Route 17/future I-86 at Exit 107 specifically for the proposed gambling resort. Plans to develop the site include an all-suites hotel with enclosed pool, spa, multiple restaurants and banquet facilities.
Bethel Woods for the Performing Arts, now in its fifth season, has nearly 30 concerts on this year”™s calendar and a host of smaller shows scheduled for its venue has no formal hotel on its property, although several bed & breakfasts in the area fill the gap. While it has grown steadily in both shows and attendance, revitalization of the area surrounding the site has been sluggish.
“Bethel Woods is fabulous,” said Tim McCausland, president of the Sullivan County Partnership, who came to honor Bethel founders Alan and Sandra Gerry at the Community Foundation of Orange & Sullivan Counties”™ benefit on April 29, “but we can”™t expect Alan Gerry to do it all.” Gerry opened Bethel Woods in 2005 at a cost of more than $100 million. The outdoor concert pavilion can accommodate 30,000 music lovers and an adjacent 10,000 square foot museum.
“So far, we”™re still in a holding pattern on the proposed casino,” McCausland said.
