A Pennsylvania company submitted an $800 million proposal to place a gambling resort in the heart of a community in Fort Washington, Md., and although a decision is months away, some people are already being moved.
The owner of the land on which the residents of a secluded community live is selling the property to Parx Casino, and about a dozen renters were told to vacate the property at Old Fort Road and Indian Head Highway by the end of the month.
“I lived here all my life,” resident Edward Dailey said. “It was good times.”
“By the end of the month, everything should be acquired,” said former Maryland Delegate Darryl Kelly, an attorney for Parx.
Parx proposed a new 22-acre casino hotel and spa on the parcel of land.
“It’s a larger parcel than what the National Harbor and MGM are proposing at this time,” Kelly said.
MGM Resorts International is bidding for a new casino at National Harbor. Penn National Gaming, owners of Rosecroft Raceway, would like to see a casino at their racetrack in Fort Washington. Bids were expected from those two companies after they both waged record-breaking multi-million dollar campaigns over the gaming legislation, but Parx Casino, owned by Greenwood Gaming and Entertainment of Pennsylvania was quietly planning its own bid the entire time.
“They have a proven track record for running a casino,” Kelly said. “They have the largest grossing casino in Pennsylvania.”
Parx’s proposed casino would feature more than 4,700 slots, 170 table games and 250 hotel rooms. They are promising more than 5,000 new jobs and almost half a million dollars in annual revenue for Maryland.
Some Fort Washington residents worry the proposed casino may be too much for the already congested suburb.
Follow Tracee Wilkins on Twitter at @traceewilkins
