The Virginia General Assembly wrapped up introductions of new bills for this session without seeing legislation that would support a casino in Roanoke.
But Del. Sam Rasoul, D-Roanoke, introduced a budget amendment that would fund an analysis of downtown infrastructure in Roanoke, including the Berglund Center, the site of the proposed casino complex.
And a city council member has started a focus group with local leaders to look at options for the civic center’s future.
The city’s October announcement of the potential casino in the Berglund Center sparked discussions that haven’t slowed down. Efforts are now underway to look at what’s feasible and what Roanoke’s residents want to see happen in the city’s civic center.
Residents and at least four of the area’s local legislators quickly spoke out against a casino last fall, citing concerns surrounding addiction and increased crime.
Supporters have said that a casino and entertainment district would be an opportunity for the city to bring in extra revenue, at a time when budget constraints are tighter than usual.
In Virginia, a locality that wants to host a casino must win approval from the General Assembly and then hold a referendum to allow residents to vote on the proposal. Four casinos have opened in Virginia within the last three years: Caesars Virginia in Danville, Rivers Casino Portsmouth, the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Bristol and Live! Casino in Petersburg.
The Berglund Center, which is over 50 years old, has a coliseum, a performing arts theater, an exhibit hall and a newly constructed special events center. The facility hosts trade shows, conventions, banquets and live entertainment, as well as Roanoke Railyard Dawgs hockey games; the team is a tenant in the building.
The proposed casino would be built in the special events center and would include additional event spaces, restaurants, a hotel, additional parking and a community center, Mayor Joe Cobb has said.
The city signed a contract at the end of 2025 to pay Two Capitols Consulting $6,000 a month for help with “all legislative, budget, and regulatory aspects of a special economic development project” and “building and strengthening relationships with key elected Virginia State officials and their staff,” among other objectives listed in the contract, which was obtained through a Virginia Freedom of Information Act request.
A $600,000 budget proposal for downtown revitalization
Rasoul’s proposed budget amendment requests that the state invest $600,000 to analyze the redevelopment of downtown Roanoke.
“A casino is not the answer, but our city still needs investment,” Rasoul said in a Facebook post about the amendment.
In an interview this month, Rasoul said the goal of his budget amendment is to hire engineers to take a look at the Berglund Center, Center in the Square and the Science Museum of Western Virginia to see what options are available. He said he’d also like to see analyses done on the Jefferson Center and the parking garage next to Center in the Square.
The science museum’s lease with Center in the Square ends at the end of this year, in a letter posted on the museum’s Facebook page on Jan. 25, executive director Mary Roberts-Baako said, “We have a location we are actively pursuing, and we will share more when the time is right.”
The civic center is requiring more frequent and costly maintenance due to its age, and city council member Phazhon Nash said in a recent interview that it isn’t bringing in enough revenue to support its operating costs and debt financing.
“It’s not simply just figuring out what the grand plan is,” Rasoul said. “It’s literally needing to get engineers in to see the Berglund complex, where we are with it, what stage of its life cycle are each of the buildings in, and what are the possibilities as we move forward.”
The city is already in the midst of its own parking study, and recently introduced a new gateless parking system. “This could be the glue that brings it all together,” Rasoul said.
Cobb said in an interview that the Berglund Center is also being looked at through an ongoing study of the downtown Amtrak station and the infrastructure that surrounds it.
Councilwoman Evelyn Powers said in an interview that if the budget amendment goes through, she hopes the city will use the funding to the “best of its ability.”
“I would hope we make sure we use that money wisely if it comes and not something we just throw away $600,000 when we have homeless people we need to worry about,” she said.
Rasoul said that in about two weeks, he will find out if the House has included the amendment in its proposed budget. The House would then need to negotiate with the state Senate on a budget to pass on to Gov. Abigail Spanberger.
Del. Joe McNamara, R-Roanoke County, has voiced his opposition to the idea of a casino in Roanoke but said he would support Rasoul’s budget amendment.
A fair amount of legislating gets done through the budget, he said; theoretically, the budget could even be written to create a casino without the need for a referendum.
“I don’t think that’s the best way to legislate because you’re down to a small group of people making the decision,” he said. “Theoretically, yes, that is a possibility, but I don’t think it’s likely.”
Cobb said that he’s frustrated that the public focus has been on the casino, rather than the greater vision of an entertainment district and adding amenities to the center. But the city has not lost interest in the casino piece of the proposal, he said.
“It’s not just about growing our economy and increasing our tax base through a property that the city already owns, but finding additional ways and more opportunities to attract people here and add to the livability of this area,” Cobb said.
Nash leads focus group to discuss options for aging building
Nash is now leading an entertainment district focus group that consists of 18 Roanoke leaders who will be meeting monthly into May to gather perspectives, hopes and concerns about the future of the Berglund Center, Nash said during the group’s first meeting on Jan. 27.
“I’ve been telling everyone, casino or not, we have to figure out what we want to do with the Berglund Center,” Nash said in an interview last week.
The group includes leaders of the Roanoke Regional Chamber, neighborhood associations, the Roanoke Railyard Dawgs hockey team, the Historic Gainsboro Preservation District and the Berglund Automotive Group, which holds the naming rights to the civic center and does business near the potential entertainment district.
The city has budgeted about $2.5 million for the Berglund Center this fiscal year, Sherman Stovall said during the focus group meeting. Stovall, a former deputy city manager who is now acting as a budget consultant for the city, said in his presentation that most municipally operated civic facilities require subsidies.
Robyn Schon, executive director of the Berglund Center, said in an interview last week that $1 million of that amount helps cover operating costs, with the other $1.5 million earmarked for capital improvement projects. The civic center has been subsidized by the city since its opening, she said, and the amount is expected to increase in the future due to rising costs.
Schon said the building has good bones but is currently undergoing roof replacements and will need new boilers, which she said are as old as the building.
In a recent op-ed published in Cardinal News, Cobb stated that a private investor approached the city with the idea of a casino in the spring of 2025. He said the project would invest $30 million in “needed upgrades” to the Berglund Center, and the city would require the developer to invest an additional $300 million into the property.
“Historically speaking … municipally owned public assembly facilities were not built necessarily to make money,” Schon said. “They were built to improve the quality of life in communities.”
Nash, however, said he believes that the Berglund Center should be self-sustaining, like the other city entities that charge for a service. Roanoke has three of these so-called enterprise funds: the Berglund Center, Park Roanoke and Stormwater.
The operations of Stormwater and Park Roanoke are not subsidized by the city, Cobb said; however, the city will invest $3 million this year and next year in Stormwater for capital improvements, budget documents state.
“That is how, on paper, the Berglund Center should operate, but unfortunately it doesn’t,” Nash said.
During the Jan. 27 focus group meeting, Nash said the Berglund Center represents “unrealized potential, unresolved trauma, and a growing financial burden rather than a source of pride.”
During the 1960s, predominantly Black neighborhoods and businesses in the Northeast section of the city were forced to move to allow for the construction of Interstate 581 and other developments, like the Berglund Center.
“While I would suggest to you that, you know, the civic center cost $15 million, there was a social cost to the siting of the civic center where it is today,” said Nelson Harris, a former mayor and local historian who spoke to the group about the neighborhood’s history.
Nash said he’d like to see a way for revenue generated by the Berglund Center to go toward acts of restoration for communities impacted by urban renewal. The city’s Equity and Empowerment Advisory Board recently presented a draft apology to the city council, which expressed a desire to commit to reparative actions, too.
Nash said last week that there are still a lot of unknowns about the process of a potential casino.
“We don’t know how the state will change the legislation surrounding it, it might change the entire process surrounding it over the next year,” he said. “But I feel like it’s still imperative to make sure we understand the concerns, the questions and the worries about what a casino could bring so that anytime in the future, regardless of what happens, we have an inclination of how to approach the topic wisely.”