That would be about a mile away from the historic battle field's southern borders, where sit the Big Round Top and Little Round Top where hundreds died.
A proposal to build a casino near there eclipses the idea of building a mosque near Ground Zero. A mosque is constitutionally protected; a gambling joint is not.
To refresh your memory: At this historic 1863 Civil War battle, 160,000 Union and Confederate soldiers battled for three days. About 50,000 of them were killed, wounded or captured, making it the bloodiest battle ever fought on the North American continent in recorded history.
If it's economic development that the casino's supporters crave, then they should be reminded that this isolated Pennsylvania town already benefits greatly from the national park. A 2002 study by the National Park Service and Michigan State University found that:
Gettysburg National Military Park hosted 1.5 million recreation visits in 2000. Park visitors spent $76.6 million dollars in the local area1 generating $22.6 million in direct personal income (wages and salaries) for local residents and supporting 2000 jobs in the area. An additional $22.6 million dollars in sales, $7.6 million in personal income and 354 jobs were generated through secondary effects, as visitor spending circulated through the local economy.
When is enough enough?
Filed under: History
Tags: casino, Civil War, gambling, gaming, Gettysburg, History, National Park
