The city of Roanoke is looking into building a casino at its civic center as part of a new entertainment district, local officials announced Tuesday.
Few details were shared at a news conference at the Berglund Center on Tuesday morning. Mayor Joe Cobb said he couldn’t yet answer questions about a potential developer, or about a timeline. He did say that the plan would involve building the casino at the site of the Berglund Special Events Center and would include additional event spaces, restaurants, a hotel, more parking and a community center.
To open a casino, the city first would need to win approval from the General Assembly, and then hold a referendum to allow residents to vote on the issue. Several of the region’s legislators said Tuesday that they would not support an effort to bring a casino to Roanoke. One of them, state Sen. Chris Head, R-Botetourt County and a member of the Senate committee that deals with gaming legislation, said he is “viscerally and vehemently” opposed to the idea.
Asked about getting a state legislator to sponsor a bill backing the casino, Cobb said that it will take bipartisan support. He said he’d like a referendum to be held “as soon as possible.” If such a bill were successful in Richmond, the earliest that a referendum could be held would be November 2026.
It’s unclear where the idea for the casino originated, but it became apparent during the most recent budgeting season that the city is struggling financially. The city increased the meals tax, made department-wide cuts and changed the Roanoke City Public Schools funding formula this year.
“As the new City Manager, it was essential to begin assessing the City’s financial stability and overall assets, particularly the Berglund Center,” City Manager Valmarie Turner said in a statement distributed to reporters.
Three casinos have opened in Virginia within the last three years, and have brought millions of dollars in new tax revenue to their host cities.
In August, the most recent data available, the city of Danville received $2.4 million in gaming tax revenue from Caesars Virginia, according to the Virginia Lottery. Portsmouth received $1.8 million from Rivers Casino Portsmouth. Bristol and 13 nearby localities shared $1.3 million from the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Bristol.
The city of Roanoke, in a statement released to reporters, said it would receive 6% of the first $100 million in gaming revenue generated annually, and that money would be invested into neighborhoods, schools, infrastructure and public safety.
The city’s director of economic development, Marc Nelson, stated in a press release that a casino could “serve as a catalyst for job creation across the region.”
Council members mull money, potential negative impact, location
City council members had mixed reactions to the news on Tuesday.
Councilman Peter Volosin, who is the vice chair of the council’s legislative committee, said he supports the idea. It will be one of the city’s legislative priorities moving forward as the committee creates its legislative package for the state, he said.
Councilwoman Evelyn Powers, when asked if she is in support of the proposal, said, “I don’t know yet,” adding that the city is very early in the planning process.
Councilman Nick Hagen said he has concerns about the location of the casino at the Berglund Center, as it sits on land that was affected by Roanoke’s history of urban renewal. He said if the city did host a casino, he’d like to see a reduction in real estate taxes, education to prevent gambling addiction, and funding going back to Gainsboro, a historically Black neighborhood.
Councilman Phazhon Nash said he had no comment, and Terry McGuire did not answer a text requesting comment.
“One of the things I am very interested in is how we utilize the revenue here to support the community,” Cobb said, answering a question from a reporter regarding Roanoke’s history of urban renewal in this area. “It’s going to be important to have conversations with people who live adjacent to this who understand some of the history.”
Cobb also said he believes the “benefits outweigh the negatives” for a casino.
No area state legislators said they’d sponsor a bill to bring the casino to referendum
As of early Tuesday afternoon, no local state legislators had said they’d support a bill to allow for a casino referendum in Roanoke.
State Sen. David Suetterlein and Del. Joe McNamara, both R-Roanoke County, sent a joint press release shortly after the city’s news press conference.
“The City should not double down on its terrible decision to use eminent domain against Roanokers during ‘urban renewal’ to build the civic center decades ago by installing a casino there now,” Suetterlein said in the statement.
According to the release, city government officials said in a meeting Monday that they had “reached out to casino interests because they were concerned about a $2.5 million budget shortfall in the civic center’s operating budget.”
“I think a casino would be an incubator of a lot of bad stuff, whether it’s trafficking, addiction, gambling addiction,” McNamara said by phone Tuesday.
“The City government’s endless pursuit of new money with a casino around the corner from where a gas station closed due to crime is completely misguided,” McNamara said in the release.
Head said in a statement: “I am completely and totally opposed to a casino coming to Roanoke and I will oppose it viscerally and vehemently with every fiber of my being. … I will work with everything I’ve got to make sure this doesn’t happen.”
Del. Sam Rasoul, D-Roanoke, said by phone that while he appreciates that it’s hard to make local budgets work, he has historically voted against casinos and would do so in Roanoke’s case. “I don’t believe casinos are the best ways to fund collective priorities in Virginia,” he said.
Del. Terry Austin, R-Botetourt County, said he does not know if he would support a bill for a casino. He said he plans to see what the public reaction is first.
Voters spoke loud and clear on past casino referendums
In 2020, the General Assembly approved its first round of cities for casino referendums: Bristol, Danville, Norfolk, Portsmouth and Richmond.
That year, voters in Bristol, Danville, Norfolk and Portsmouth approved casino referendums. In Bristol, the yes vote was 71%; in Danville, 69%; in Norfolk, 65%; and in Portsmouth, 67%.
Richmond voters rejected a casino referendum in 2021, with 49% of voters in support of a casino, and again two years later, with just 38.1% of voters in favor.
A temporary casino is expected to open in Norfolk next month, with a full casino to follow in 2027. The city has said it expects an estimated annual total project tax revenue of over $30 million after opening.
Petersburg is also getting a casino after a successful referendum in 2024. A temporary facility is expected to open at the end of this year, with a full Live! Casino and Hotel Virginia expected to open in 2027. The city’s website states in the first 10 years, the project is expected to generate $504 million in tax revenue, with $240 million going to the city.
A push for state approval for a casino in Fairfax failed early this year when a bill introduced by state Sen. Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax County, failed in the General Assembly. A grassroots group of Fairfax citizens, “No Fairfax Casino,” formed to “make it known to policymakers, the media, and developers that a casino development is not welcome in Fairfax County,” according to the group’s website.