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Worth the gamble?
By Chad Umble
Lancaster New Era
LANCASTER COUNTY, PA - Alex “Rock” Illes hunched over his table, eyeing his racing form and smoking a thick cigar.
Three hours of small bets at the off-track wagering facility in East Towne Mall on a recent Friday afternoon had left him down about 10 bucks.
The silver-haired retiree placed his next wager, a $2 “place” bet on the 10-to-1 Silver Certificate in the fifth race at Finger Lakes, N.Y. If the horse finished first or second, he’d win $7 to $10.
As the field neared the starting gate, the 72-year-old Illes gazed across the quiet, mostly empty betting parlor where he comes several times a week.
“You can relax in here, have a little fun,” he said. “We’re not scary people. I’m a family man. I have great-grandchildren.”
After opening 10 years ago this Wednesday amid a storm of controversy, the county’s first and only off-track wagering parlor since has settled into a low-profile existence.
The increased crime, traffic and gambling addiction bemoaned by opponents failed to materialize.
Yet the facility has also fallen well short of developer and owner Penn National Gaming’s expectations, in attendance, new jobs and income.
Regardless, controversy over the facility — which once dominated the headlines — has died down, leaving a mostly inconspicuous haven for lovers of horse racing.
“What’s there to talk about? Nothing ever goes on over there,” said Mike Ponzilla, who lives within walking distance of the facility and visits occasionally.
OPPONENTS' VIEW
But in August 1995, when Penn National unveiled its plan for the $2.5 million an off-track betting parlor, it was the talk of the town.
Opponents responded quickly — and with outrage — saying the gambling parlor offended the conservative values of the community and would increase crime, traffic and gambling addictions.
Some 300 people — mostly opponents — attended a September 1995 state Horse Racing Commission hearing held at a Lititz hotel.
During that hearing, James Huber, then-chairman of the county commissioners, said the facility would harm the character of the community, the New Era reported at the time.
“We see many negative impacts to the infrastructure, the religious atmosphere, the economy and the unique character of the ‘Garden Spot of the World,’ ” he told the racing commission.
Dianne Berlin founded the group Pennsylvanians Against Gambling Expansion to oppose the off-track wagering site. She organized petitions, rallied local churches and became a visible opponent of the plan.
“This will change Lancaster County forever if it is allowed to come in,” Berlin said to a November 1995 meeting of gambling opponents.
The dispute was reflected in frequent letters to the editors of the local newspapers. Many writers warned of sharp increases in crime and gambling addiction. One likened the off-track betting facility to a camel that had “pushed its way into our tent.”
But beyond the war of words, opponents also formally challenged the facility’s applications for gambling and liquor licenses. They even contemplated a shopping boycott of East Towne Mall and voting the township dry to keep the facility out.
But the challenges— both rhetorical and legal — did not keep Penn National from getting its licenses and opening on July 12, 1996.
Since then, there is little hard evidence of the predicted problems.
East Lampeter Township police chief John Bowman said he has seen no increase in crime as a result of the off-track betting parlor.
“Really, it hasn’t been noticeable from our standpoint,” said Bowman, a 17-year veteran. “There really is nothing more to say about it.”
Daniel Cafiero, owner of Penn-Mark Inc., which manages East Towne Mall, said the facility causes few problems, especially since it doesn’t attract shoplifters.
“If anything, it is less burdensome than a typical retailer,” he said.
East Lampeter Township manager Ralph Hutchinson said the facility has done nothing to strain the township’s budget, costing the township the same as any other business.
And, Hutchinson said he could think of little that would have changed over the last 10 years had the betting parlor not come to the area.
“Nothing really comes to mind as how it would be different,” he said.
As for increased gambling addictions, there is little evidence of that either.
“Anecdotally, I don’t think that Lancaster’s (off-track betting parlor) is raising gambling addictions in this area,” said Michael Sprunger, director of financial counseling services at Tabor Community Services.
He added that “removing the (facility) in the middle of a region loaded with gambling opportunities doesn’t strike me as something that will stem the problem significantly.”
Jim Pappas, executive director of the Council on Compulsive Gambling of Pennsylvania, agreed, saying his group fields relatively few calls for people with gambling problems related to horses.
“The No. 1 preferred choice of gambling in the state is the lottery,” he said.
Despite a dearth of evidence against the facility, its opponents remain steadfastly opposed to it, though unfamiliar with its current modest level of activity.
“For the people who go there and their families, there have been detrimental effects,” said Berlin, whose group still works against gambling in the state.
Berlin said she has never visited the off-track wagering facility and backed away from some of her decade-old criticism about the damage it would cause the community.
“I don’t think it has enhanced it,” she said simply.
Huber said he knew little about the operation of the facility, but took some comfort when told that it hasn’t drawn as many people as Penn National predicted.
“I’m glad to hear they haven’t been as successful as they had anticipated,” Huber said.
Marie Hammond, 72, who lives in a development near East Towne Mall couldn’t think of any specific problems with the betting parlor, but said she is still unhappy about it being there.
“We’re still just as disappointed as ever,” she said.
PROPONENTS' VIEW
Penn National officials point with pride to the lack of problems in the last 10 years.
“Our patrons are a lot of regulars that enjoy betting the horses — a good group of people, very low key,” said Daniel James, who manages the facility in Lancaster.
But while the problems predicted by opponents haven’t materialized, neither have the benefits promised by the company.
In its application to the state Horse Racing Commission, Penn National said the Lancaster facility would create 118 jobs and attract 700 patrons a day.
It also was expected to generate $34,000 in wage and real estate taxes for the township and Conestoga Valley School District.
All these projections have come up short.
On its opening day, the facility attracted 1,137 visitors. But last year, it drew an average of only 249 visitors a day. That’s a drop of 21 percent from 2000 — the earliest year that statistics are available — when it averaged 317 visitors a day.
The 24,000-square-foot facility can seat 1,100, meaning that on most days the parlor is — at best — a quarter full.
As the attendance has fallen, so have the number of workers. Today, there are some 50 full- and part-time workers —less than half the expected amount.
Local tax income is limited to earned income taxes for employees who live in East Lampeter Township. The company declined to estimate this figure.
Fred Lipkin, spokesman for Penn National, said the rise of Internet-based gambling probably has something to do with the low numbers for the betting parlor.
“Ten years ago you couldn’t sit at home and wager on horse racing — now you can,” he said.
“There is so much more of a competition for the entertainment dollar right now than there was a decade ago. I think all of these things are factors.”
The slide in overall attendance is not limited to Lancaster. Penn National’s off-track wagering facilities in York, Reading, Chambersburg and Williamsport have seen similar declines, horse racing commission statistics show.
Illes, a retired masonry contractor from near Gap, said the recent Friday crowd was thinner than usual, perhaps owing to the upcoming Fourth of July holiday.
Illes’ own table was littered with gambling receipts from earlier races. As he waited for the fifth race at Finger Lakes, he switched his TV — one of more than 300 in the betting parlor — to some other channels that show races from 13 tracks in the United States and Canada.
When his own race began, it quickly became clear that the two dollar bet on Silver Certificate would continue his run of mildly bad luck.
As the horses in that race began the 51-W furlongs around the track, the 5-year-old gray mare was nowhere in sight and finished well out of the money.
Illes, puffing from one of the cigars he brought in a plastic bag, took the $2 loss in stride.
“It’s fun. It’s cool in here. You meet the old geezers,” he said...
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