Residents, union workers sound off over South Phila. casino plan

There was a very loud and very public family squabble at Stella Maris parish hall Wednesday night, one that can be summed up simply: quality of life vs. jobs.

If you were in support of a South Philadelphia casino, you were against the neighborhood. If you were opposed, you were closing the door to commerce and union jobs.

A vocal and, at times, angry audience of more than 300 people filled the hall at 10th and Bigler Streets for what was billed as a rally in opposition to what some residents fear is a looming decision by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board to award the city's second casino to a firm that will build it in South Philadelphia.

Although there has been no official confirmation, knowledgeable sources have said the board will announce Tuesday that the second casino license is going to Live! Hotel & Casino, a joint venture of Cordish Cos. of Baltimore and Greenwood Gaming & Entertainment Inc., which owns Parx Casino in Bensalem.

That company has proposed a $425 million casino with 2,000 slot machines and 125 table games to be built at Darien Street and Packer Avenue, on the site of the Holiday Inn near the sports complex.

"We have worked very hard to protect our neighborhoods from the fallout of the stadiums," said Barbara Capozzi, a local real estate agent and community activist who helped organize the meeting. "I don't see how we can take any more."

In large measure, the overflow crowd seemed squarely in that corner, as speaker after speaker rose to decry the "degenerate gamblers," drunks, and prostitutes who they warned could become neighborhood fixtures once a casino is built in the area.

"This is going to corrupt our neighborhood and our schools," said Donna Barclay, a 20-year resident.

To drive home the point, opponents marched out a half-dozen young students from Mastery Thomas Elementary on Bigler Street, several of whom took the microphone to decry the impact of a casino.

The opposition was balanced by scores of union workers who stood mostly in the back of the hall. They were led by John "Johnny Doc" Dougherty, head of the electrical workers' union, and Mike Barnes, business manager of the stagehands' union. Their message was that the casino would create valuable jobs for the city and the neighborhood.

Dougherty and Barnes took turns speaking to the crowd on behalf of the casino, only to be shouted down.

Earlier, Dougherty told a reporter he went to the meeting to "educate folks that a casino here is not going to be the end of the world." Dougherty said he was chiefly concerned that residents know that they had, in his view, been let down by community leaders who did not seek to intervene in the selection process when they had the opportunity.

Dougherty's arrival at the mike came with a theatrical twist. Moments before, Capozzi had been pressed by some in the audience to explain what legal steps could be taken to the stop a casino. She demurred, saying: "The enemy is in the room."

With that, Dougherty strode to the front.

"I'm not here as the enemy," he said. "I'm an employer. I got 1,100 kids here jobs. Those guys in the back, they're your neighbors."

As the meeting wore on, the speakers grew louder and more emotional.

"Our future is our children," resident Crystal Grimes all but shouted after one union member spoke of jobs the casino would bring. "I'm glad you have work, but why does this have to be weighed against the safety of our children?"

Eventually, Capozzi called matters to an end, but not before promising many more meetings - and action - should the South Philadelphia casino be approved.