ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, September 14, 1996 TAG: 9609160035
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CUMBERLAND, MD.
SOURCE: Associated Press
Investors who envisioned a huge Indian-run casino on a western Maryland mountaintop said Friday they had dropped the project and put three prospective sites up for sale.
James L. Silvester of Winchester, Va., said he and his partners abandoned their plan to build a $75 million gambling mecca atop the scenic bluff near Cumberland because of Gov. Parris Glendening's opposition to more gambling in Maryland, and because a change in federal law made the project economically unfeasible.
The investment group, which includes the absentee Shawnee tribe of Shawnee, Okla., and Hollywood Casino Corp. of Dallas, might seek a site in a neighboring state, Silvester said. They would consider a scaled-down, more accessible casino near Cumberland if the climate for gambling improves, he said.
``We're waiting to see where the chips fall,'' Silvester said in a telephone interview. ``It is no longer feasible to put a casino on Wills Mountain.''
The project received scant support from local and state officials in the more than two years since its conception. Both Glendening and House Speaker Casper Taylor, who lives in Cumberland, opposed the idea, and residents were leery of further development along the high cliffs they call The Narrows.
Glendening vowed last month to veto any bills seeking expanded gambling in Maryland.
Silvester said the project's chances were further weakened by a recent change in the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act that permits Indian nations to offer whatever types of gambling are legal in a state. Under those conditions, if casino gambling were made legal in Maryland, the Indian casino would have competition instead of operating as a monopoly, as Silvester had envisioned.
He said the three parcels, totalling 104 acres, would be offered for sale first to government bodies and then to private parties. As a last resort, the group might develop some of the land for homes, he said.
``Given the historic significance of the land, we believe it is better off in government hands,'' he said. The largest tract, 91 acres near the Pennsylvania border, is believed to include Indian graves, including that of Chief Will, for whom the mountain is named.
The Oklahoma Shawnee trace their roots to Allegany County, Md.
Allegany County Planning Director Benjamin Sansom said the parcels are attractive, but the county has no money available this year to buy the land, which may be worth about $500 an acre.
He said the city of Cumberland may take the lead in devising a proposal for public acquisition of the land under Program Open Space, which would involve both state and local dollars.
LENGTH: Medium: 57 linesby CNB