Gilley says Country Crossing facing crossroads

Investors have made developer Ronnie Gilley an offer he wants to refuse – to move Country Crossing to casino-friendly Mississippi.

Gilley says he’s committed to keeping the project in Houston County, but investors are nervous about a recent anti-gambling task force created by Gov. Bob Riley.

“We’re 100 percent committed to Houston County,” Gilley said in an exclusive interview with the Eagle Saturday. “There’s no intent of moving the project.”

However, Gilley is leaving his options out there on the table since Riley called a press conference last Monday to announce the creation of an anti-gambling task force, as a response to a recent increase in bingo halls which house casino-like electronic slot machines that are forbidden under state law.

Many entertainment establishments assert their machines are legal under local charity bingo amendments, but the state Supreme Court ruled two years ago that slot machines and slot-like machines are banned by the state Constitution. Questions have arisen regarding the legality of electronic bingo machines and whether local amendments that allow paper bingo apply to electronic bingo. Electronic bingo differs from electronic slot machines in that bingo players compete against one another, where slots players compete against the house.

Some more recent Country Crossing investors reacted to Riley’s announcement by pulling their support, but Gilley said the initial investors remain committed to do the project – regardless of where it has to go.

“I’ve got partners who are furious (with the governor’s action),” he said. “Nothing more could have been done before we started (this project), to clarify state law on bingo. The Attorney Generals’ opinions are clear. We are operating within the parameters of what the Constitution allows.”

The Mississippi offer came from gaming and real estate investor Rick Carter, a Dothan native. Carter said he had considered investing in the Country Crossing project in Dothan, but reconsidered after Riley’s announcement of the task force.

“He’s (Riley) destroying the economic development of Dothan, Alabama, and that’s a sad thing,“ Carter said.

Carter said he has offered to let Gilley develop Country Crossing on property he owns adjacent to a casino in Mississippi or on other property in the state. Gilley identified the casino as the Island View Casino Resort in Gulfport.

Gilley has said he is confident in the legality of electronic bingo in Houston County, and he would like clarification of the governor’s intent.

“If his (Riley’s) intention is to close illegal operations in the state of Alabama –- great,“ Gilley said. “There’s an abundance of illegal operations now. If his intent is to close down electronic bingo, there’s plenty of court cases declaring electronic bingo legal.“

Gilley has already made a major commitment to bringing Country Crossing to Houston County. In October, he bought 375 acres off Highway 231 South at a price of $19.84 million, or about $53,000 per acre.

He estimated the current investment in the project is around $45 million, and said George Jones, a recent Kennedy Center honoree, is committed to building a $9 million Possum Holler dinner theatre.

“What the governor has done, it’s like someone saying they are going to put in a $70 million resort hotel and halfway into construction, the governor says resort hotels are illegal. People may think that’s not a good comparison, but comparing bingo and crystal meth is not a good comparison either.”

After Gilley announced the project last February, a group of loca ministers, mainly Baptist, and area businessmen, came out in opposition to the electronic bingo component, saying it would bring crime and addiction into the community. A number of those business interests are staunch Republicans and considered Riley supporters who usually push for more economic development in the state.

The Country Crossing project is primarily an entertainment venue, but Gilley said the only way the project is doable financially is alongside a funding mechanism like electronic charitable bingo.

“The reality of it is that the entertainment component of it is going to suffer for three to five years,“ Gilley said. “After three to five years, entertainment will outpace the bingo. You have to have a build-up stage. No one’s going to speculate on entertainment in the existing environment.“

The Country Crossing project has been touted as a potential economic powerhouse for Houston County that could provide more than 1,000 jobs and millions of dollars in tax revenue and donations to charity from bingo proceeds. Gilley has pledged a minimum of $2 million in bingo proceeds will go to charities each year.
Gilley said it will go – somewhere.

“The people in Mississippi have followed this project from the beginning. This project would work in the Panhandle of Florida where there has been an offer to give us land. It would work on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi,” he said.

Gilley said he has also been contacted by gambling interests in south Florida and in Kansas City, regarding locating Country Crossing there.