Preservation groups say ‘no casino’

BY SCOT ANDREW PITZER
Times Staff Writer

Like last time, the preservation groups cited the project’s proximity to Gettysburg National Military Park as its primary reason for opposing the plan.
“We’re more concerned about this project — it’s only a half mile away from the battlefield,” said Civil War Preservation Trust spokesman Jim Campi.
LeVan’s group, dubbed “Mason Dixon Resort & Casino,” shot back at the coalition for forming a stance before seeing final plans for the project. Since going public with the project in mid-November, LeVan has touted economic development, new jobs and tax revenues for the local and county governments.
“One day after the President of the United States, in his State of the Union address, said the nation’s top priority is the creation of jobs…these groups announce their opposition to the largest job creating economic development project in the history of Adams County,” said Mason Dixon spokesman David La Torre.
Under a state gaming formula that determines local government share, it would take $50 million in casino revenues to generate $1 million in tax revenue for Adams County and Cumberland Township. Both municipalities have been promised $1 million annually.
“If these organizations help cause this project to fail, will they buy the Eisenhower Inn for $14.1 million to help save the struggling resort, which employs hundreds of Adams County residents?” La Torre wrote in a press release.  “Will they guarantee Cumberland Township and Adams County $1 million each annually to help its local residents avoid tax increases? And will they put people to work?” concluded La Torre.
In a joint statement issued Thursday, the coalition noted that the Eisenhower Inn is situated along a rural roadway designated as the Journey Through Hallowed Ground. Overall, the Journey Through Hallowed Ground is a federally-designated 175-mile historic corridor stretching from Monticello, Va., to Gettysburg.
The Journey Through Hallowed Ground Partnership has not taken a stance on LeVan’s proposal.
LeVan, who owns Battlefield Harley Davidson in Straban Township, received a letter from the coalition Thursday morning, stating the groups concerns and intentions.
The Preservation Trust opposed the “Crossroads” project in 2005-06, and even helped fund a portion of No Casino Gettysburg’s opposition efforts.
“The concerns and objections our organizations raised to the 2006 Crossroads proposal remain valid and unresolved, and are raised by this project as well,” the coalition stated. “Therefore, after due consideration, we must oppose this project.”
Preservation officials wrote that historic sites, “like the Gettysburg Battlefield,” should be treated with the “respect and consideration they deserve.”
La Torre countered: “The Mason-Dixon project is not located on the battlefield.”
“It will be interesting to see how this message from these Harrisburg and Washington organizations will resonate with Adams County residents who are out of work and facing yearly tax increases,” said La Torre.
LeVan met with Civil War Preservation Trust officials in December, to discuss his project. The agency decided to hold off on making a stance, citing the state legislature’s table game debate in Harrisburg. When lawmakers approved a table games bill in January — allowing games like roulette and black jack at state casinos — the bill included language that reopens the gaming application process.
LeVan and business partner Joseph Lashinger, a former state lawmaker, plan to file an application by the April 7 deadline. They missed the previous deadline, but have since obtained an option to purchase the 100-acre Eisenhower Inn. The hotel is situated atop land that is zoned for commercial, mixed-use development, and the property is located five miles from downtown Gettysburg, and two miles from the Maryland border.