New Orleans casino struggles
By Alan Sayre
Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS — Ten years after Louisiana's legislature created the New Orleans casino amid promises the city would benefit from gambling, the reality is far different.
Advertiser library photo • October 2001
Harrah's New Orleans Casino is taking in only a fraction of the money promoters predicted would be spent at the huge new casino near the French Quarter.
Harrah's New Orleans Casino was created 10 years ago by the Louisiana legislature as a moneymaker for the city.
Bumper stickers in support of gambling once predicted about 50,000 new jobs from the casino, but the gambling hall itself employs 2,500 and won a tax break from lawmakers last year after threatening bankruptcy.
Part of the casino's problem comes from stiff competition from the popular gambling outlets along Mississippi's Gulf Coast. Louisiana's riverboat casinos in Shreveport and Lake Charles are now the state's primary destination points for gamblers.
"What we've probably learned is that if you want to legalize gambling because you want it to be economic development, you're probably making a mistake," said University of New Orleans economist Tim Ryan.
Longtime casino opponent C.B. Forgotston said the story of Harrah's makes it evident that "gambling dollars are finite."
"We've finally realized that there is a limited number of dollars that can be spent on gambling," he said.
Ten years ago last week, Louisiana lawmakers passed the land casino bill with no votes to spare and then-Gov. Edwin Edwards signed it into law. Edwards touted the idea of a New Orleans casino during the 1980s as a unique tourist attraction that would draw gamblers from all over the country. At the time, casinos were limited largely to Nevada and Las Vegas.
But by the time the law was passed, riverboat casinos were popping up in other states and Mississippi had shocked many observers by legalizing dockside gambling.
A temporary casino at New Orleans' Municipal Auditorium lasted only six months before it collapsed into bankruptcy court in 1995. The permanent casino finally opened in late 1999, but threatened to close in early 2001 and file for bankruptcy reorganization again.
