The lodge and golf course, part of the deal with Lakes, had incurred an operating loss of $4.3 million the previous year.ĭonlin said he can't argue with the new strategy. The project was a financial failure, with private bondholders agreeing to write off about $26 million to help Lakes buy the resort last year for about $10 million. He said many outdoor enthusiasts were disappointed years ago when the state subsidized the resort's construction on public parkland as an economic development venture. I don't think it would have a major impact one way or another,' Donlin said. 'I suppose if we were there, our members might visit the casino after a day outdoors.

'Quite the opposite actually.'īut Tom Donlin, executive director of the Maryland Recreation and Parks Association, said the casino probably won't have any bearing on whether his group holds more meetings at Rocky Gap. And somehow a casino doesn't seem like it's going to add to the romance,' Boss said. The retired banker from Hagerstown said she and her husband have stayed twice at the 215-room lodge and enjoyed the tranquility of a lakeside stroll or a visit to the hotel spa. 'What happens inside the lodge, with the casino, is really just a separate experience,' Settina said. None of that is going to change,' she said.

'When you walk out of the door, you will feel that natural scenery, you will still be in that. Maryland Park Service Superintendent Nita Settina said she doesn't expect the casino to clash with the park's natural charm. General Manager Scott Just, a Lakes Entertainment vice president, said the casino was designed to be in harmony with the rustic character of the hotel, formerly the Rocky Gap Lodge and Golf Resort, and its Appalachian setting.

The casino, Maryland's fourth, will add 250 jobs at the resort, where employment historically has ranged from about 100 in the winter to 400 in the summer. The casino opening is contingent on a successful demonstration of gambling operations Monday for the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency. It will offer 558 slot machines and 10 table games in converted conference space at the newly rechristened Rocky Gap Casino Resort, 130 miles west of Baltimore. of Minnetonka, Minn., aims to open the gambling parlor Wednesday through its Evitts Resort LLC subsidiary. (AP) - The flashy jangle of slot machines is a far cry from the stillness of Rocky Gap State Park in western Maryland, but state and local leaders are betting that this week's planned casino opening will transform a struggling lakeside lodge into the economic engine its planners envisioned 15 years ago.

Rocky gap casino resort flintstone md