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Md. Gambling Could Mean Jackpot for Remote Resort
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"When you look at our economy, you realize how desperately we need economic growth," said Casper R. Taylor Jr., a former House speaker from a tiny mountain town who pushed $60 million in public-private ventures through the legislature in the 1990s in hopes of luring prosperity to Appalachian Maryland.
Many credit his vision with putting Western Maryland on the map once Interstate 68, the region's only highway, was completed in 1991. He is now a lobbyist for the resort's bondholders.
The $51 million Rocky Gap resort operated in the red for years after it opened a decade ago and owes private investors more than $28 million. The Maryland Economic Development Corporation cannot make its $2.2 million in annual interest to bondholders, although state officials and bondholders are working toward a financial restructuring, said Robert C. Brennan, the agency's executive director. The hotel is on track to take in $12.5 million this year, which will cover operating expenses, but business is off by 15 percent this summer.
The 216-room, five-story hotel is part Adirondack lodge and part upscale resort, with simple, Shaker-style furniture and a spa offering $145 stone massages. The lakeside restaurant stocks $185 Merlots, but the staff roasts marshmallows on a campfire every night. Rooms start at $170 a night. A steady flow of weddings and conferences, from corporate retreats to knitting conventions, takes the edge off the leisure business, which comes up short during the week.
"People say, 'What's wrong with Rocky Gap?' " Brennan said. "I say, 'Have you ever been there?' We're an absolute bargain. How many traffic lights are there in Ocean City? There are 14 traffic lights in all of Garrett County."
General Manager Tim Grambley said the hotel's biggest marketing challenge is creating demand where none existed before. The place is advertised as an "adventure activity resort" that harnesses the area's rugged natural resources for skiing, kayaking, white-water rafting and mountain biking. Although the state park stretches over 250 acres, Grambley said it makes the most sense to put slots on what is now a driving range next to the lodge, for easy access.
He returned to Rocky Gap last year, after seven months managing a hotel project at a casino in Blackhawk, Colo. "It wasn't my cup of tea," he said. Slots here would be different, he said, because the lodge would not run the gambling operation.
But that might not be the case. Barbara Buell, a transplant from Howard County who runs the local Chamber of Commerce, said some potential slots operators have expressed interest in buying the hotel from the state to make the investment viable.
For local leaders, gambling was always in the plan for Rocky Gap. It was just a question of when. "They'll lead to other things," Taylor said of the millions of dollars in slots proceeds the county would receive. The amphitheater he commissioned on the hotel property, now virtually empty, could be a draw for a bluegrass festival with big-name artists that the county can't afford to book right now.
Said Fiedler: "It could be a very, very nice resort that also had gambling."
This report is the first in a series on the five potential locations for slot machine gambling in Maryland.
