New Casino Solution: Move Them Underwater
July 15, 2008 –
State officials yesterday offered a bold solution to the increasingly contentious casino-re-siting debate: submerge the planned SugarHouse and Foxwoods casinos beneath the Delaware River. "It seems to me that putting the casinos underwater would satisfy all parties," said Rep. Dwight Evans, speaking to reporters on Penn's Landing. "Foxwoods and SugarHouse would get to stay on the waterfront–and Philadelphia wouldn't have to look at them."
 Mayor Michael Nutter was excited by the idea, which had been devised in recent weeks by Evans and Rep. Michael O'Brien. "Submerging the casinos would allow us to move forward with PennPraxis' [Penn's Landing development] plan while essentially keeping [the casinos] in their chosen locations," he said. "It's a real win-win." Councilman Frank DiCicco, whose district would include both slots parlors, agreed. "Foxwoods and SugarHouse don't want to move to the airport or Nicetown... so with this, we're saying, 'Okay, fine, go ahead and build on the water.' Or, you know, in the water."
Casino representatives, meanwhile, were mulling the aquatic new proposal. "It's a unique idea, but there are some obvious logistical problems that would need to be addressed," said Foxwoods spokeswoman Regina Dancey. "For instance, how exactly would you build in a river? Would there be a danger of collision with passing ships? Would our guests need scuba certification? We're going to take a long, hard look at this." Evans urged them to accept the offer. "[The casinos] need to come to the understanding that this proposal would benefit everybody. I think it'd be great if they say 'yes' and, excuse the pun, dive right in."
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