South Philly Review

For the anticasino contingent of South Philadelphia, it was no doubt the greatest moment of the last two years since learning in late 2006 Foxwoods Casino Philadelphia was coming to their backyards.

Sept. 10, Mayor Michael Nutter and Gov. Ed Rendell announced Foxwoods has agreed to "consider" relocating from Reed Street and Columbus Boulevard to The Gallery at Market East.

"This is a serious proposal that will get serious consideration," Nutter, flanked by the governor and a host of city and state officials including 1st District Councilman Frank DiCicco and state Rep. Bill Keller, said.

After the press conference at City Hall, DiCicco told the Review, "This is not a done deal. This is just a proposal. There is a lot of work that needs to be done."

Added Keller, "It looks like the people [of South Philly] were right when we banded together and hopefully we will re-site the casino to a site that looks not only better than the Delaware and Tasker site but it looks like the best site in the city for a casino and I believe Foxwoods would agree with that. Hopefully everything will go smoothly and we'll be able to re-site the casino and it will be better for the people of the city and throughout the state to start to get the revenues rolling in."

Should Foxwoods commit to the Eighth and Market streets spot, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board would have to give its OK and then the entire process starts again with a fresh round of meetings to hear out neighborhood opponents -- in this case Chinatown residents who successfully fought plans to build a sports stadium in their area, as well as any other opposing Center City-dwellers; negotiating a lease with Gallery-owner PREIT; and getting the city to grant all necessary approvals. No timeline has been set for resolving these issues.

Foxwoods has made it clear to local and state powers-that-be if it doesn't get the needed support for The Gallery, the ching-ching of slot machines will be echoing from the waterfront.

half the size of the Columbus parcel, the proposed spot is 300,000 square feet between 10th and 11th streets. Location is why city, state and even Foxwoods officials are so keen on The Gallery.

Michael Thomas, chairman of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, which leads the Connecticut-based casino group, said the new spot is superior to the waterfront for a host of reasons, primarily because it is walking distance to Historic Philadelphia with tourist attractions like the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall, as well as in close proximity to hotels, restaurants and shops. A mass transit hub is another plus with SEPTA Regional Rail Lines, subway surface lines, some 25 bus routes and the New Jersey PATCO Lindenwold line all converging at Market East Station.

"This is the No. 1 site in the city for transportation, which has been one of the issues we've all wrestled with from the beginning," Thomas said. "We couldn't be more thrilled with the economic opportunity to be part of the long-term redevelopment plan that the City and State has had relative to the whole Market Street East situation."

More bonuses are that the Convention Center is mere blocks away and Chinatown itself.

"Because a lot of the business Foxwoods is relying on would be tourists and conventioneers, in this case The Gallery would be walking distance and will eliminate the need for that many more cars to be in the street," DiCicco said. "I think nowhere near the degree of vehicular traffic that would be if Foxwoods were to be built on the waterfront."

But not everyone is enamored with the alternative. Living at Christian Street and Columbus, blocks from the current Foxwoods site, Jim Della Vecchia should be thrilled the slots parlor isn't coming to his neighborhood, but he says just build 'em.