Richmond’s failure may prove Petersburg’s success. Virginia State Senator Joe Morrisey who represents Petersburg and parts of Richmond, wants to pick up the ball Richmond voters dropped when they voted no to a casino. Morrisey is drafting legislation to pick up the casino project.
But Morrissey’s colleague in the General Assembly is not yet on board over potential concerns with a casino in their midst. “Though I am not fundamentally opposed to casinos, there are potential concerns about this proposal,” Del.-elect Kim Taylor said in an exclusive statement to the Petersburg Progress-Index. She did not elaborate on what those concerns are.
“At the end of the day, we must ensure this is the right project for Petersburg,” Taylor said.
“I’m getting the legislation drafted now so that Senate General Laws will get it early,” Morrissey said. “The legislation gives the contract to Petersburg.”
If approved by the general assembly, the proposal goes to Petersburg City Council. If it makes it through council, it goes before the voters.
Shocked that Richmond voters said no, Morrissey pivoted to Petersburg.
“I thought, ‘Richmond’s loss could be Petersburg’s gain,'” he said.
A spokesperson for Urban One declined comment at this time about locating in Petersburg. When asked to confirm that company representatives had visited the city, the company did not respond.
Morrissey hopes several of the major casino companies at least kick the tires. As for locations, Morrisey said options are plentiful, all congregating around I-95. There are some 70 acres there that are open for development.
“The important thing is they wanted something close to 95,” Mayor Sam Parham said.
“This has to be a team effort,” Morrissey said of getting the casino approved for Petersburg.
“It will help us address a lot of our immediate needs that we have here, the need of new schools, the need of new infrastructure, dropping our property tax rate,” Parham said.
According to CBS affiliate WTVR, Parham said he toured the city with owners of a casino. Representatives from other casino companies have also reached out about building a casino in his city located about 20 minutes south of Richmond.
“We’ve been blessed,” he said. “We are excited to have them and definitely explore the opportunity to be a site here in Petersburg. It can transform the city. We saw a lot of jobs leave the city in the 90s and 70s. This can be a gamechanger to put Petersburg on the map. It could really help us upgrade an aging city that we have. We have a tremendous amount of needs here with education. We need new courts, new housing and that right there can be a tremendous jump start to our city.”
Morrissey wants this fast-tracked so that part could happen as early as June. “For those people that say, ‘Well, I don’t want a casino.’ We are already past that point. People are going to gamble,” he stated. “They’ll either go to Maryland, or Pennsylvania, or West Virginia or Atlantic City.”
