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As North Carolina legalization push stalls, Virginia cities move ahead with casino projects

A temporary Caesar's casino that opened recently in Danville, Va., is drawing visitors from North Carolina. Some state lawmakers argue that more casinos should be built in N.C., citing that revenue is going across the state line.
Colin Campbell
/
WUNC
File image of a temporary Caesar's casino that opened 2023 in Danville, Va., which generates about $19 million in revenue each month.

Efforts have stalled to legalize casino gambling in North Carolina, but a casino project is moving forward in a Virginia city about 40 miles from the state line.

The Norfolk City Council voted 7-1 this week to approve a development contract with Boyd Gaming and the Pamunkey Indian Tribe for a waterfront casino with slot machines and gambling tables alongside a 200-room hotel. A temporary gambling hall will open next year, while the permanent casino is scheduled to open in 2027.

In early 2020, Virginia lawmakers passed a bill that permitted casinos in five cities, including Norfolk and neighboring Portsmouth, as long as local residents gave approval in a referendum. Norfolk and Portsmouth voters said yes that November.

The Rivers Casino in Portsmouth opened in early 2023. A casino referendum also passed in Danville, which is just over the North Carolina line and close to the Triad. Caesars Entertainment is building a 500-room hotel and 2,500 seat theater on the site of a former textile mill. A temporary Caesars casino, which opened last year, generates about $19 million in revenue each month.

In North Carolina, only American Indian tribes are permitted to operated casinos. State Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, led a push to expand legal gambling last year, with a focus on building casinos in rural areas. The proposal failed to pass and Berger said he was "not intent" on bringing back the legislation this year.

Bradley George is WUNC's AM reporter. A North Carolina native, his public radio career has taken him to Atlanta, Birmingham, Nashville and most recently WUSF in Tampa. While there, he reported on the COVID-19 pandemic and was part of the station's Murrow award winning coverage of the 2020 election. Along the way, he has reported for NPR, Marketplace, The Takeaway, and the BBC World Service. Bradley is a graduate of Guilford College, where he majored in Theatre and German.