Politics & Government Tysons Casino Discussion Planned By Fairfax County NAACP Fairfax County NAACP is hosting a public discussion in the Mount Vernon District about the proposed Tysons entertainment complex.
Churchill Downs opened The Rose Gaming Resort in Dumfries with 1,650 historical horse racing machines, eight restaurants and bars, over 100 hotel rooms, live entertainment, 2,500 parking spaces and a seven-acre public park. (Michael O’Connell/Patch)
MOUNT VERNON, VA — Fairfax County NAACP is hosting a discussion of the proposed Tysons entertainment complex at 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 7, 2025, at the Gum Springs Community Center, according to a post on the organization’s social media.
“Join us for a community-centered conversation designed to provide an unbiased platform for public questions, comments, and concerns. This moderated discussion will ensure every voice is heard and respected, fostering a thoughtful exchange of perspectives,” according to a release. Representatives from Comstock Development Corp., the Reston-based developer behind the proposal to build an entertainment district anchored by a casino somewhere on Metro’s Silver Line in Fairfax County, will be part of a panel that includes the NoVA Labor Federation AFL-CIO and the No Casino Coalition. Both groups have come out publicly to support and oppose, respectively, plans to build a casino in Tysons.
Read all of Patch’s reporting on the plan to build a casino on Metro’s Silver Line in Fairfax County at Silver Line Casino. Terry Clower, the director of the Center for Regional Analysis and the Stephen Fuller Institute, will also participate in the panel.
In a 2023 Virginia Mercury article, Clower noted that while advocates say a casino with restaurants, hotels and concert halls would create a go-to destination for out-of-towners to spend money at local businesses, he questioned whether the market could support a second casino and entertainment district with the MGM-branded casino just across the Potomac River in Maryland. On Tuesday, Patch first broke the news that Sen. Dave Marsden (D-Burke), who introduced the two previous casino referendum bills during the 2023 and 2024 general assembly sessions, would not reintroduce the bill in the next session, as he previously stated.
Instead, Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell (D-Mount Vernon), who represents the Gum Springs community in Richmond, will carry the legislation this time. In an email to Patch on Monday, Surovell confirmed he was carrying the casino legislation this session. “It will have a referendum,” he said, adding that he was still working on the rest.