The day many local supporters eagerly have awaited finally arrived last week when SugarHouse casino held a ceremonial groundbreaking at their Delaware Avenue site.

During a sunny afternoon, SugarHouse supporters flocked to the Thursday, Oct. 8, event.

While more than 200 casino supporters filled a large tent at the site, the anti-casino crowd attended as well.

Throughout the event, shouts from a small group of about 50 protesters outside the gates could be heard.

In case the tones of a bullhorn weren't clear enough, protesters made their message known during the groundbreaking with a banner, hung from a low flying plane, that read "crime, poverty, addiction . . . jackpot."

But, under the tent, the mood refused to dampen as casino supporters seemed to appreciate the end of long delays and the beginning of the 10-month construction cycle.

Casino representatives hope to have SugarHouse up and running by July 2010.

The Port Richmond-based Polish American String Band performed a selection of tunes as various investors and friends shuffled into a large tent on the 22-acre property in which city officials addressed the audience.

As she prepared the crowd for the lawmakers and other speakers there to herald in the incoming $310 million, 1,700-slot interim casino structure, casino spokeswoman Leigh Whitaker joked with the audience. Standing before the crowd, she grinned as she adjusted the white, shiny new construction helmet atop her head.

"I've waited more than two years to wear this hard hat, so, I'm not talking it off ... ever," she said at the outset of the meeting.

As lead investor Neil Bluhm took the stage, he found himself speaking over bullhorn chants of "our city, our say, no casino, no way."

Unruffled, he brushed the shouts aside, and promised that, when completed, the casino complex would offer 500 new jobs at the outset, including an additional 500 construction jobs, and would be something Philadelphians "could be proud of."

"This is going to be a fun place for people to come," said the billionaire casino and real estate magnate. "We're really excited about getting here today and breaking ground ... It will be an exciting, attractive building. It will be a great addition to the city."

City councilmen Frank DiCicco (D-1st dist.) and Darrell Clarke (D-5th dist.), who have both supported the casino, joined Bluhm.

But, DiCicco's support came more recently. He initially had opposed construction of the gaming parlor.

He acknowledged his initial opposition to the casino's location along the Delaware River in Fishtown and Northern Liberties by noting that he had "made some mistakes in the past," but celebrating the groundbreaking "wasn't one of them."

"I've been standing in the way of this project for far too long," said DiCicco to a rousing round of applause. "I've tried to do the right thing ... I've made some mistakes, but being here today isn't one of them. It's time to roll up our sleeves and get on with it."

As Clarke took the stage, former mayor John Street could be seen heading into the tent. Mayor Michael Nutter would also appear, slightly tardy, only to join the lawmakers on stage as Clarke spoke.

Clarke noted the benefits that the casino could bring to the city, including the Community Benefits Agreement and the Special Services District that the casino operators negotiated last year with two neighborhood groups - the long supportive Fishtown Action and the New Kensington Community Development Corporation.