THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 26, 1995 TAG: 9502250113
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 07 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 47 lines
February 17, 1995
Mr. V. Wayne Orton
City Manager
City of Portsmouth
P.O. Box 820
Portsmouth, Virginia 23705-0820
Dear Wayne:
On behalf of the Eldorado and Primadonna, I wish to express our disappointment with the status and progress of Agreement of Intent with respect to a riverboat operation in Portsmouth. As you are aware, we have had numerous conversations, including meetings in Portsmouth, with respect to negotiating the terms of this proposed Agreement. Several weeks ago, I had thought we had reached agreement on all the substantive issues and all that remained was to finalize the details of Agreement. However, since that time, The City has been unable or unwilling to proceed with the finalization of the Agreement. It appears that there is substantial questions as to whether Portsmouth is interested in pursuing a riverboat site at this time. This is unfortunate since we had been led to believe for over a year that a riverboat project was important to and would be welcomed in Portsmouth.
It is our understanding that the legislation which would have authorized riverboat gambling in Virginian has been withdrawn from consideration and is, therefore, unlikely to pass during this session of the Legislature. The City's apparent reluctance to proceed and the lack of legislation makes it extremely difficult for the Eldorado and Primadonna to proceed any further with this project. We are unwilling to devote any further time, money or resources to this project until we have clear and unequivocal direction from the City.
If you wish to discuss these matters further, please feel free to contact me.
Very truly yours,
Robert N. Jones
Chief of Financial Officer
ELDORADO HOTEL CASINO by CNB