Norfolk officials have scrapped plans for a temporary casino inside Harbor Park stadium over concerns it would not meet the specifications of the city’s 2020 casino referendum. Instead, the temporary casino will be built on the same property that the permanent casino will eventually call home.
The switch comes after a Virginian-Pilot article last month revealing that the city changed the address of Harbor Park baseball stadium in an apparent attempt to circumvent language in the casino referendum that Norfolk voters approved in 2020.
At the time, city officials dodged questions about the address change, described it as a routine “boundary adjustment” and would not say the referendum was the reason for it.
However, on Tuesday, they acknowledged the address change as the reason for scrapping plans to put the temporary casino in Harbor Park.
The referendum allows casino gaming in the city only on property “with an approximate street address of 200 Park Avenue,” the land next to Harbor Park where the Headwaters Resort & Casino will eventually be built.
But when city officials wanted to open a temporary casino inside Harbor Park before the permanent one was built, one detail didn’t match up with the casino referendum: The stadium’s address was not 200 Park Avenue.
Then, without an explanation, city officials changed the stadium’s address to match that of the land next door that will be the home of the future Headwaters casino.
Mayor Kenny Alexander, however, said in an interview Monday that the city canceled its plans after concerns were raised about the location and address.
“There may be some concern with the lottery board and others that, although it’s the same address, it’s not technically what was described (in the referendum),” Alexander told The Virginian-Pilot.
John Thompson, a developer working with the Pamunkey Tribe on the casino project, told city council on Tuesday that the concerns about the address change are “meritless.”
“Issues have been raised about the address of the proposed gaming facility,” Thompson said. “We can’t risk the timing of the development or the tax revenue that would come back to the city over this address question, no matter how meritless we think it may be.”
Constructing a temporary casino in Harbor Park’s parking lot — which is the future site of the Headwaters casino and now bears the address of 200 Park Avenue — will allow for a larger gaming facility than originally planned, Thompson said. The temporary casino will open in March 2023, he said.
Initial plans for gaming inside the ballpark would have had 628 gaming machines and a restaurant with 130 seats. It was planned for the space that is currently occupied by Hits at the Park restaurant and the space formerly occupied by Norfolk’s boxing program.
City officials already relocated Team Norfolk Boxing to a temporary facility in Park Place to make way for the temporary casino, which was planned to open in Harbor Park in June.
Councilwoman Andria McClellan raised concerns during the council meeting about why the city moved the boxing program before determining whether the casino could be located inside Harbor Park.
“I’m concerned that we as a city moved our boxing center out of there before we ever voted on Harbor Park as a location,” McClellan said. “We had a referendum that our voters voted on that was very specific about the location, and it did not include Harbor Park.”
It is unclear what the Norfolk Tides or the city will do now with the vacant space formerly occupied by the boxing center.
Joe Gregory, the Norfolk Tides’ general manager, told the Pilot it may be an opportunity for the team to build a much-needed hospitality area for baseball players and umpires. But he said nothing has been planned at this time.
The Virginia Lottery Board is expected to take a vote on whether to approve the Headwaters Resort & Casino’s operating license in the coming months, needed for both the temporary and permanent casino to open.
If all goes according to plan, the Headwaters casino is anticipated to open in 2024.
Daniel.Berti@virginiamedia.com
