No new construction is planned as part of the Mason Dixon Resort & Casino project in Cumberland Township, according to renderings unveiled Monday.
Gettysburg businessman and gaming applicant David LeVan said during a morning press conference that the “premise is to take an existing facility” — the Eisenhower Inn along Business 15 south of Gettysburg — and “make it better by blending it into the countryside.”
“It’s a new chapter and a new beginning for this property, to turn it into a premiere destination resort,” said LeVan, who is partnering with former state lawmaker Joseph Lashinger in an attempt to secure the state’s lone remaining Category Three “slots resort” license.
“There is no new construction,” LeVan told the media. “We’re making the buildings better, with new facades and interior upgrades.”
Proposed property enhancements include landscaping, as well as exterior and interior work to the hotel and expo buildings, stretching from the Emmitsburg Road entrance, throughout the 100-acre property.
Ewing Cole Vice President Don Dissinger explained that masonry and stone will be “prevalent” throughout the exterior architecture, while the buildings will be renovated into an “historical-lodge” design, utilizing natural stone and native wood. LeVan noted that there are “no neon, flashing lights” in his plan.
“We wanted to address the misconception about casinos,” the Battlefield Harley Davidson owner said following
the presentation. “It’s definitely not something you’ll find in Las Vegas or Atlantic City,” LeVan continued. “Our overriding principle was to fit our project into the nature of the area.”
Dissinger’s firm, based in Philadelphia, has partnered with Mason Dixon to perform the architectural work. He believes the resort site has “much untapped potential.”
“Our goal is to preserve the tradition of the area, but enhance the economy of Adams County,” said Dissinger, adding that the current look of the 300-room hotel and adjoining recreational complex is “old and tired.” “The idea is to enter the resort, and then discover what’s inside,” added Dissinger.
The present-day All-Star Sports facility “will be the center of the entertainment complex,” explained Dissinger, with up to 600 slot machines and 50 table games. Overall, the building is about 72,000 square-feet, and now used for billiards, video games, indoor soccer, basketball and other activities.
About 70 percent of the space would be used for gaming, while 20,000 square-feet would be used for administrative offices and security. LeVan said that “some of the recreational” venues will remain, while other amenities could be eliminated.
His vision also includes replacing the current signage along the Emmitsburg Road, and replacing it with smaller, aesthetically-pleasing signage. The property’s existing lake would be resorted, and a mansion house and historical-looking barn are expected to be converted into a restaurant or Bed & Breakfast.
Pro Casino Adams County spokesman Tommy Gilbert, a Gettysburg businessman who attended Monday’s conference, was pleased with the presentation. “This is going to put Gettysburg back on the map,” he said regarding the plan.
LeVan announced Monday morning that he and Lashinger have the 100-acre site under a purchase option through 2012, after recently reaching an agreement with the property owner, giving Mason Dixon “plenty of time to continue our project.”
Mason Dixon Resort plans to file its application Wednesday, April 7, the deadline for the state’s lone remaining slots resort license. LeVan is likely to compete with three other applicants: The Nemacolin Resort in western Pennsylvania, the Crowne Reading Plaza in Wyomissing and the Fernwood Resort in the Poconos.
“We’re the only new applicant,” noted LeVan, explaining that the Reading Plaza and Fernwood Resort met an earlier deadline for the license, while the Nemacolin Resort applied back in 2005-06, but later dropped out.
He “fully expects” to work through the municipal planning process in Cumberland Township, and expects his group to “begin work immediately, after we’re awarded a license.” Opening after six months of work is “overly optimistic,” he said, while one-year is more realistic. LeVan was unable to offer a timetable on when the state’s Gaming Control Board might issue the license.
There are no plans to alter the residential Devonshire Village, a collection of individually-owned condos, located atop the rear of the property, other than landscaping improvements.
LeVan’s first gaming project in Adams County, “Crossroads” in Straban Township, was rejected by the state in 2005-06, because of the opposition it generated from preservationists and historians, as well as revenue concerns. However, a recent survey conducted by nationally-recognized pollster Dr. G. Terry Madonna concluded that 62 percent of those polled in Adams County support the project.
Renderings of the proposed project are available by logging onto www.masondixongaming.com.
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