Barden breaks ground for city casino
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Casino owner Don Barden calls out "Gentlemen, start your engines" to heavy equipment operators taking part in yesterday's ground breaking ceremony on the North Shore. He was joined by singer Smokey Robinson, right, and Frances Glandney, Mr. Robinson's wife.
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Don Barden shoveled away a year's worth of frustration and turmoil yesterday, breaking ground on a $450 million riverfront casino he vowed to make the flagship of his Majestic Star chain and a worthy rival to anything Las Vegas has to offer.
"Gentlemen, start your engines!" Mr. Barden bellowed, as heavy equipment rumbled to life on the cool, gray morning to begin a "pretty tight" 16-month construction schedule to get the North Shore casino open in April 2009.
The groundbreaking, on 17 acres between Carnegie Science Center and the West End Bridge, came 356 days after Mr. Barden, on his birthday, captured the state license to operate the lone Pittsburgh slot machine casino.
That, in retrospect, might have been the easy part. For the last year, Mr. Barden has fought off a court challenge to the award by the two losing bidders and tangled with Carnegie Science Center and the Steelers and Pirates over traffic issues. And he's engaged in an ongoing battle with the local design community over the size of the 3,800-space parking garage to be built directly behind the casino.
He also has changed financiers and one of the construction contractors.
Getting to this point, he acknowledged, was "a long, difficult road."
"Nevertheless, it's over now. We're under construction. To hear the beautiful sound of machines in the background is so lovely," he said.
Nearly 200 people packed into a white tent at the casino site to commemorate the moment. They included Motown legend Smokey Robinson, an investor in the project, and former Steelers star Jerome Bettis, whose mother, Gladys, has a small stake in the casino. A busload of Mr. Barden's family members and friends came from Detroit.
Three members of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board -- Chairwoman Mary DiGiacomo Colins, Sanford Rivers and Kenneth McCabe -- also took part, as did Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato.
Mr. Barden's Majestic Star project is the second of four stand-alone casinos in the state to get under way. The Mount Airy Resort and Casino in Monroe County opened in October, but the two Philadelphia casinos have been stalled by litigation and community opposition.
During his remarks, Mr. Barden pledged to make his steel and glass complex a "first-class, world-class gaming facility," with a gambling floor that "rivals any major casino in Las Vegas," first-class restaurants and the "finest of materials" and interior decor. There will be "substantial space for public access" outdoors, including a boardwalk, 1,200-seat amphitheater and terraces.
"Unlike everything in Las Vegas that's all concentrated toward the inside to keep you there, ours is open, with windows and light and beautiful colors. I think you'll be very proud with what we're planning for Pittsburgh," he said.
Nonetheless, while Mr. Barden billed the day as a "celebration," the continuing controversy over the size of the garage, nearly twice the height of the casino, loomed prominently.
Mr. Barden was particularly incensed about a garage drawing produced by the Riverlife Task Force as part of an opinion piece that ran in Sunday's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. He said the task force "distorted the facts" in portraying the garage as running the length of the casino and being nearly five stories above the casino.
The renderings he unveiled yesterday show the garage, in a view from the Ohio River, running from the center of the casino to its west end, with only three stories visible. A second view, from Mount Washington, shows more of the garage, both in length and height.
Mr. Barden said the casino and garage compare favorably with Heinz Field, which he said was 156 feet in height.
"This is a good design on the riverfront. The beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Is the stadium a good design on the riverfront? Just compare the two. That's why it's so ridiculous. The precedent has already been set," he said.
"In terms of height you have a 156-foot structure. You have exposed steel, exposed concrete and everything else. I've gone to great lengths to make ours decorative and attractive and aesthetically beautiful and I've been criticized. How ridiculous."
Later, at a city planning commission briefing, Michael Stern of Strada, a casino architect, said the garage "fits into the skyline" with Heinz Field, the science center at 90 feet, and the Sports & Exhibition Authority parking garage and Del Monte building, each at 105 feet.
In response to criticism, Mr. Barden will install decorative screening on the south side of the garage, facing the river, under an agreement reached last month with Mr. Ravenstahl and Mr. Onorato. Architects also have stained the concrete so it's a "warm tan," not plain, but they have not changed its size.
Lisa Schroeder, executive director of the Riverlife Task Force, said she was pleased to see the architectural treatments to integrate the garage and casino. But she also stood by Riverlife's drawing, saying what you see depends on the angle from which you're looking at the garage.
"Every angle will be a slightly different proportion," she said.
"It is the scale and the massing and the height of the garage relative to the casino that's been our concern," she added, "so that's what we'll want to look at now that a package of drawings and scale of elevations has been submitted."
The casino is expected to employ more than 1,000 people once it opens, and generate $240 million a year in tax revenue for the state and $10 million a year each for the city and the county. It also will contribute $7.5 million a year for 30 years to help fund the arena for the Penguins and other events.
During construction, about 4,000 people will be employed at one time or another. Mr. Barden said all of the construction help will be union workers and at times, crews may work double shifts to get the job done in 16 months.
Demolition and excavation work will begin immediately. By April, the casino superstructure should start to become visible.
In yesterday's ceremony, Mr. Barden received from gaming board members the actual state license that authorizes him to open the casino. He paid a $50 million fee for the framed sheet of paper.
First Published December 12, 2007 12:00 am
