$18 MILLION A GAMBLERS' TOWER

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, April 13, 1993                   TAG: 9304130358
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short
$18 MILLION A GAMBLERS' TOWER
GOV. WILDER didn't get his monument in the form of a Redskins' stadium in Alexandria. He'll get it, instead, in a nine-story $18 million headquarters for Virginia's lottery department in downtown Richmond.
Wilder was triumphant last week in his effort to win legislative approval of a Taj Mahal for state-sponsored gambling. Having previously and properly rejected this unnecessary construction project, the assembly buckled under pressure from the governor and agreed, at its one-day veto-override session, to bond financing for the building.
The lottery department, now spread over rented space in four buildings, perhaps needs to be pulled together under one roof. But downtown Richmond is awash with vacant buildings that could be bought or rented and renovated for much less than $18 million.
Doubtless, the governor wanted to do a good turn for his hometown before he leaves office next January. But as Wilder himself has often taken pains to point out, these are fiscally tough times for the state - notwithstanding the growth of the lottery.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB