Financing for Don Barden‘s stalled Pittsburgh casino remains, as ever, two weeks away. Barden’s people say they’ll have it by mid-July (conveniently, after the next meeting of Pennsylvania’s gaming commission), they’re “continuing to close” with Credit Suisse, and contractors are “very anxious to get back to work.” I’ll bet — though not half as anxious as to get paid for work already done.
The Pittsburgh Courier also reports that Barden has already sold the Las Vegas Fitzgeralds for $35 million — but there’s mention of it either in online Clark County property records or in SEC filings by Barden’s Majestic Star company. Hmmmmm.
As the farce along the riverfront continues to play out, Barden’s proposal to drastically downsize the size and quality of Majestic Star Pittsburgh is playing to less-than-rave reviews. Mayor Luke Ravenstahl won’t quite call it a bait-and-switch but others are not so reserved, with one saying, “We want what was approved.”
Never at a loss for excuses, Barden’s mouthpiece, Bob Oltmanns, contends that the ‘slot parlor’ would be up and running were it not for pesky litigation. The putative villains, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Pirates, will have even greater reason to be vexed if Barden cuts back on riverfront access to Majestic Star, because that will mean that much more vehicular traffic tangling with motorists trying to get into or out of Heinz Field and/or PNC Park.
Then again, city and state officials were warned that access to Majestic Star could be very problematic indeed — warnings they chose to ignore. If they don’t like the barrel Don Barden’s got them over, they’ve no one to blame but themselves.
